Darkus Eclipse
by LordDeadwing
Summary: An AU retelling of Bakugan that takes place in the same universe as Digimon Adventure. Dan Kuso never existed. But Kai Eclipse, former digidestined of darkness is disowned by his parents after learning of a prophecy describing him and is sent to live in Wardington city. How will an ex-digidestined who had his partner taken away handle this new beginning? (OC x Runo M.)
1. Prologue

**Prologue:**

Kai had finished packing his bags and was just waiting for his escort to pick him up and take him to the airport. Part of him wanted to say goodbye, but he couldn't work up the nerve, he had been disowned as his parents' son so there just didn't seem to be any good that could come of it. At last the sound their voices faded as they left the apartment he began to visibly relax. He took a look in his bedroom mirror one final time, idly fingering his Crest of Darkness as he sighed in loss for what must have been the thirtieth time since he woke up. He wore black jeans with a tank top of the same color underneath a purple short sleeve woven shirt. His eleven year-old body pale as it had been since his birth. He had blonde hair like his father TK and brown eyes like his mother Kari.

Looking down at the floor he wandered over to his bed and sat down on it as he pondered how everything had gone so wrong. His parents had of course been concerned when the crest he received several years ago was the Crest of Darkness, completely understandable given their own experiences as Digidestined. Even so, they hadn't treated him any differently than before he was their son and they still cared. It would be hard at school and around the district as he and his partner Impmon would often hear snide remarks about how they couldn't be trusted and that it was only a matter of time before they betrayed everyone, other than that everything just seemed to be working out until just a week ago.

7 days was all it had taken for his life to fall apart. The 4 Sovereign digimon had summoned the original digidestined and had delivered news of a Digi-world prophecy that specifically described the wielder of the Crest of Darkness being corrupted by his partner who would eventually become one of the seven demon lords. Later that night his parents had taken Impmon away from him and told Kai that the little mon couldn't be trusted. Maybe it wouldn't have escalated beyond that but apparently there was some worries that Impmon had already corrupted Kai. Before Kai knew it, everyone (except for his twin sister Hikaru and Uncle Tai) was avoiding him like the plague and speaking about him like he was a convict.

Things had escalated to the point where he one day had been mugged on his way home from school one day and if Hikaru hadn't been there to notice, nobody would've even known because they were too busy being afraid of him. His parents immediately assumed the worst with all the tension rising and blamed him for being mugged saying that he was 'street fighting' and that soon enough he would begin attacking defenseless people. Hikaru and Tai came to Kai's defense but nothing they could say would change the minds of TK and Kari as they disowned Kai. The next day, Tai took his nephew down to City hall and used his influence as the Human-Digimon ambassador to get him emancipated knowing that if Kai was sent to a foster home, the rumors and the hate would just follow him.

After being emancipated and changing his last name from Takashi to Eclipse, Kai and his uncle began talking about what he should do. They decided that it would be best if he left Japan altogether since everyone here knew who he was thanks to the rumors and that the country he moved to would need to have the smallest amount of Registered Digidestined per capita. The country ended up being the United States and they choose a city called Wardington. The idea was that he would continue his education until he was 18 while in the meantime, Tai would make sure to send his nephew enough money each month to live comfortably through the rest of his childhood, Kai had always been responsible so Tai wasn't too worried about him blowing everything he was being given.

Kai heard a knock on his bedroom door and opened it to see Hikaru. She was wearing a summer dress with cherry blossoms designed onto it. Her caramel brown hair was neatly combed as always although her blue eyes conveyed sadness and longing.

"Your ride is here, Uncle Tai made sure that his friendliest contact would be here for this so no need to worry." she said softly desperately wanting all of this to be a horrible nightmare. None of this had been Kai's fault, he was one of the nicest people she knew, he didn't deserve this. Kai nodded in response to his sister and grabbed his suitcase. He was about to exit his room as Hikaru ran up and hugged him from behind. "I don't care what anyone says Kai, you will always be my twin brother, and I will always do what I can for you." Tears began filling both of their eyes as Kai returned the hug.

"I'm going to miss you sister" he began "You and Renamon had better look out for each other."

"We will" Hikaru said as they broke the hug. Luckily for Kai his parents were at meetings this morning so he didn't have to endure anymore glares from them. It had taken all of Tai's skills to get them to allow him to stay for the rest of the week so he could get his affairs in order and say goodbye to his sister. But it hadn't been pleasant by any means, TK and Kari had just acted like Kai didn't exist. Things could've been much worse though, Kai had a promising future thanks to his Uncle's help and Hikaru, Renamon, as well as both Gatomon and Patamon who thought that this was just too much helped him however they could whether it be packing up or just giving him company as he was practically shut in his room since being emancipated. His parents neither knew nor wanted to know about what would happen in his life once he left which was fine by him, the less they knew about him the better from this point forward.

Kai picked up his suitcase and slung his backpack over his shoulder as he walked out of his room. Renamon appeared and asked Kai if she could help with his suitcase, which he gratefully accepted. The twins and Renamon made their way down the stairs specifically avoiding the elevator wanting to spend as much time together as possible before he was gone. All too soon they had reached the bottom floor of the complex and saw a Black SUV waiting for Kai. Renamon put his suitcase in the trunk while Kai hugged his sister and whispered one final goodbye before he entered the SUV and shut the door. Moments later, he was buckled in and was being driven to the airport where a private jet commissioned by his uncle would fly him straight to Wardington, his uncle had been able to get him a connection to study for the citizenship test that the US had. Just the day before he had taken it on a secure computer in his uncle's home thanks again to Tai's influence and would be sworn in as a US citizen on Wednesday. Feeling anxious and nervous for the future ahead, Kai lost himself in thought as his trip began.

_**Six months later**_

Kai was having a video chat with the only friend he had in Japan besides his sister and uncle. Shun Kazami and his mother had never bought into all the garbage that was spread about Kai and knew him well enough to know he would never fall to evil. As they were chatting, something strange flew into Kai's computer room. Picking it up, Kai saw that it was a card of some kind.

"Kai, is something wrong?" Shun asked

"Shun" Kai began showing the card in front of his camera "this card just flew in to my window and while I was picking it up I noticed that there are hundreds more of them falling from the sky like rain."

"Wow" Shun said before looking out of his window in shock "Kai, the same thing is happening here too." Kai could only gasp in astonishment as a card found it's way towards Shun as well. Within minutes cards stopped falling and the ones in both of their hands glowed and opened up as more cards came out of them along with strange spheres. Shun's spheres were all varying shades of green while Kai's were primarily black with purple as a secondary color on them.

"Shun" Kai said as he turned back to his friend "I think this could be the start of something new."

**First chapter done, next a whole new adventure will begin for Kai. Tune in next time for Ch. 1: Battle Brawlers**


	2. Battle Brawlers

**Chapter 1: Battle Brawlers**

It had been three months since the cards had fallen from the sky and things didn't go as Kai thought they would. He thought that the Digidestined would begin investigating the event but due to an event in the Digital World, literally no Digidestined were on Earth when it happened. Once they arrived back several days later all they heard about it was rumors and hearsay so they couldn't really do anything about it. Soon enough, the kids who all received cards ended up creating a game which seemed harmless enough until the first time one of them actually played it, they ended up freezing time and creating a battlefield in the middle of nowhere. Soon enough all of the card receivers were on the battling bandwagon. Although, Kai wasn't doing it just for simple fun. It could be fun, but Kai knew enough Digidestined history to know that there was more to this than just a game, the fact that not everyone had Bakugan or Bakugan cards proved it. So he battled just like everyone else, aiming primarily to hone his schools so that when something inevitably would go wrong he would be ready to answer the call.

Kai rose from his bed and looked on his clock to see that it was 9 am, since it was a Saturday he wasn't even slightly worried about school. He quickly put on the same outfit he always wore and strapped his purple Bakupod to his wrist. He placed the Crest of Darkness around his neck and walked over to his desk picking out three of his Darkus Bakugan.

"Let's see" Kai muttered to himself as he chose his three for the day "I'll take Juggernoid, Mantris, and Falconeer too." he placed the three Bakugan into the holster that he strapped onto his black leather belt. Grabbing his cards, Kai strode down to the kitchen where he made himself some breakfast. He decided on some chocolate chip waffles and was soon waiting for the waffle iron to finish its work. Meanwhile, the phone began ringing, recognizing the number as his Uncle's he immediately picked it up.

"Hello" Kai greeted

"Kai" Tai began "How's everything going?"

"Pretty good, I'm just having some breakfast then I'll go out and continue gaining experience with my stuff." Kai replied specifically leaving the mention of Bakugan out knowing that anyone could be listening in.

"It's alright to just say it how it is" Tai assured him "This is a secure line, just the two of us."

"Sorry" Kai said "Just trying to be careful" Once the Digidestined had returned and Tai heard one of the rumors he decided to ask his nephew about it. Kai told him everything due to the trust he had for him. Pretty soon, Tai had been commissioning Kai to gather a portfolio on the Bakugan and whoever recieved the cards just to make sure that if something happened they would have all the information they needed to handle it. Of course, Tai had no intention for the Digidestined themselves to step in unless their help was asked for, figuring that if these Bakugan were just like the Digimon that they would need to have their own partners and protectors. The Digidestined simply couldn't be expected to do everything, and with these brawlers engaging in their battles, they were working up experience that would hopefully help them if and when danger does arise as opposed to the original Digidestined who were caught unprepared by their own struggles.

"Who are you taking today?" Tai asked

"Juggernoid, Mantris, and Falconeer." Kai replied as the timer beeped for his waffles

"Good luck and keep me posted"

"Got it Uncle, bye" Kai finished hanging up the phone and removing his completed waffles so he could eat them.

Once Kai finished with breakfast, he headed out the door and jogged to the local park. Once there he found a familiar opponent along with someone else waiting for him.

"What's going on Akira?" Kai asked the boy he had battled several times already

"Are you ready to battle?" Akira asked

"Dude, maybe if you try battling some of the other brawlers in the area you can figure out different strategies instead of constantly trying to knock me down." Kai replied with a sigh

"I'm not the one you'll be facing" Akira said as his portly friend stood besides him.

"Hey" he said in a voice deep enough to sound older than he was "my name is Shuji, my brother tells me you must be pretty tough."

"Haven't lost a battle yet" Kai replied as he looked Shuji over in slight interest. He was both tall and wide with black hair wearing a yellow jacket over a white t-shirt with casual shorts and nikes as well. He stood very much in contrast to Akira who was ginger, short, and wore a green t-shirt. The only obvious thing they had in common was their pants and shoes.

"That's gonna change today Kai" Akira said with a grin

"Yup" Shuji nodded "You see I'm a master Subterra brawler"

"Considering that I'm in the Top 50 and have never heard of you before, I'm pretty sure that's a lie." Kai said wanting to see what kind of temperament Shuji had. His response was Shuji fuming with rage.

"I'm gonna make you eat those words, punk!" Shuji yelled as he pulled out a gate card

'We'll see" Kai calmly replied with a sigh of disappointment as he pulled up his own gate card.

"Gate Card! Field Open!" they yelled simultaneously a flash of light in purple appeared from Kai's card while Shuji's glowed orange. Beneath them, a pattern displaying the different attributes began circling as time around them stopped and the battlefield opened.

Meanwhile in Vestroia trouble was brewing. Vestroia is an alternate dimension that is divided into six spaces each belonging to Bakugan of each attribute. For those of the attribute of fire, there was Pyrus. For the attribute of wind, there was Ventus. For the attribute of earth, Subterra. For the attribute of water, Aquos. For the attribute of light, Haos. And for the attribute of darkness, there was Darkus. A white Bakugan of no attribute was flying in Darkus space, this dragon Bakugan is called Naga. Naga wanted power more than anything else and so decided to breach the center of Vestroia and absorb both the Infinity Core and the Silent Core. Noticing that there were no Bakugan nearby, Naga used a card he received from an ally to open a portal to the heart of Vestroia. Upon seeing his prize he began chuckling in glee.

Returning to Earth, the battle between Kai and Shuji was just getting underway.

"Gate card, set!" They yelled throwing their cards onto the field which glowed purple and orange respectively as they grew to a much larger size.

"Bakugan brawl!" Shuji yelled as he threw one of his Bakugan onto the card he threw down. "Bakugan stand!" the Bakugan was released from his sphere form and grew into a Subterra Mantris. Kai decided to check his Bakupod before making a move.

"Welcome Kai" the bakupod greeted in a monotone albeit feminine voice "Subterra Mantris power level at 270 G's, no other data available." Thinking for a moment Kai decided to go on the offensive.

"Bakugan brawl!" Kai yelled throwing one of his Bakugan onto the same gate card that held Shuji's Mantris. Bakugan stand!" the Bakugan was revealed to be Darkus Falconeer with a power level of 300 G's. Upon seeing how strong Kai's Bakugan was, Shuji began to fidget in nervousness and hastily made a move.

"Gate Card open!" Shuji yelled causing the battlefield to fill with sand complete with a pair of decorative pyramids set in the distance.

"Mantris power level raise to 320 G's" the bakupod reported

"Not bad" Kai said "But there's one thing you didn't account for."

"And what would that be?" Shuji asked in annoyance causing Kai to smirk and hold up another card.

"Ability card, activate!" Kai yelled causing the card to glow "Grand Down!" the gate card was destroyed and the accompanying environment disappeared causing Shuji to gasp in shock.

"Mantris power level returning to 270 G's" the bakupod said

"How?"

"Grand Down is an ability that destroys your gate card rendering it useless. Now, Falconeer let's do this!" Kai said causing his Bakugan to fly down and slash Mantris with his talons. Mantris was blown back and reverted to his sphere form rolling back towards Shuji slowly while Falconeer reverted and flew straight back to Kai's hand. "What will you do now?" Kai asked expectantly, Shuji just growled and threw down another one of his Bakugan.

"Bakugan brawl!" his Bakugan landed on Kai's set gate card "Bakugan stamd!" Shuji yelled as his new addition rose.

"Subterra Saurus at 250 G's" the bakupod reported

"Bakugan brawl!" Kai yelled, making his move and tossing down another Bakugan. "Bakugan stand!" Kai's Darkus Mantris appeared to combat Saurus.

"Darkus Mantris at 260 G's" the bakupod reported

"You're not the only one that can play abilities!" Shuji yelled "Ability activate! Earth power!"

"Subterra saurus power level raise to 300 G's" the bakupod reported

"Gate card open!" Kai yelled causing the entire field to be shrouded by dark purple mist

"Mantris power level increase to 310 G's" the bakupod reported as Mantris took down Shuji's Saurus.

"No!" Shuji yelled as he was down to his last Bakugan "I can't lose" he announced as he threw down a new Gate Card. "Bakugan Brawl! Bakugan Stand!" Shuji's Juggernoid came out ready to fight.

"Subterra Juggernoid power level at 230 G's" the bakupod reported

"Bakugan brawl! Bakugan stand!" Kai yelled out at his own Darkus Juggernoid landed on the gate card.

"Darkus Juggernoid power level at 230 G's" the bakupod reported

"Gate card open!" Shuji yelled causing pillars of Earth to rise across the battlefield. "Ability card activate! Desert Thunder!"

"Subterra Juggernoid power raise to 380 G's" the bakupod reported

"Ability card activate!" Kai called out in response "Merge shield!"

"Darkus Juggernoid power level at 380 G's" the bakupod reported

"Ability card activate! Binding Space!" Kai announced once more cancelling out Shuji's gate card

"Subterra Juggernoid power decrease to 330 G's" the bakupod reported

"No!" Shuji yelled completely forgetting he could still use an ability if he wanted to as the battle came to an end causing the field to fade away and time to resume.

"Are you kidding me Shuji?!" Akira exclaimed "I thought you'd crush this guy!"

"Whatever let's go home." Shuji replied in exasperation as he began to walk away soon followed by his brother.

Meanwhile in Vestroia, Naga flew straight at the Silent Core and began to absorb its power.

"Yes!" he yelled "At last unlimited power will be mine, once I've finished this, I'll absorb the Infinity Core as well." Naga continued chuckling madly until he began to feel inexplicable pain. "No! No! All the negative energy, it's too much. No!" Naga wailed as he was pulled into the Silent Core causing a chain reaction that sent the Infinity core flying through Vestroia and enacting a cataclysm of chaos upon the dimension resulting in the barriers between attribute paces collapsing as well as leaving an unintended consequence.

In another dimension that all Bakugan fear, the doom dimension, the imbalance caused one Bakugan who had been sealed their since his birth to go flying into the human world just as the Infinity Core was.

Kai was shaking his head at the troublesome pair he had just sent packing when a flash of light momentarily blinded him. Once Kai could see again he found a new Darkus Bakugan on the ground. He picked it up and it opened into the same pose it would strike before going to full form in a battle.

"Where am I?" The Bakugan asked

"Wardington" Kai replied casually although on the inside he was both excited and terrified. On the one hand his theory was correct, on the other hand this meant that times of trouble would soon arrive. "My name is Kai, who are you?"

"I am Leonidas" the bakugan replied "There is something powerful in you human"

"You must be talking about my crest" Kai said pointing it out

"Well, I sense that the only way I will achieve my full potential is to be partnered with a strong human and you certainly seem to fit the bill." Leonidas said

"So, you want to be partners then?" Kai asked

"I won't find one more worthy than you, I'm sure of it. I have faith that you will prove me right."

**Kai and Leonidas are now a team, and not a moment too soon. Next time: Ch 2: Masquerade.**


	3. Masquerade

**Chapter 2: Masquerade**

Kai had gone straight home as soon as he and Leonidas had partnered up and was in the middle of a phone call with his uncle.

"So, after you're battle this Leonidas appeared with you and offered a partnership after seeing your strength?" Tai summarized

"Yeah" Kai said while holding Leonidas in his hand "he seems like he's pretty aggressive but I'm willing to give him a chance."

"Good for you" Tai said "Just remember to be on your guard, now that these Bakugan have proven their sentience it's only a matter of time before something goes wrong."

"Agreed, I'll tell the friends I made about it online later, hopefully now they'll begin to take this a little more seriously now that I have something backing up my theory." Kai replied

"Good luck" Tai offered before hanging up on his nephew. Kai began to think about his friends. They were kind and supportive of him, he hadn't really told him about how his time as a Digidestined came to an end only that he used to be one. No matter how much he tried to convince himself, he couldn't help but be afraid that they wouldn't want to be his friend if they heard the full story. He also was concerned about whether or not they would actually take him seriously, that being said he needed to be sure that he didn't push them as far as he had with Shun.

_Flashback_

_It had been about a month since the Bakugan first appeared and the rules of the game were all set in stone. And as a pair of friends had originally intended to talk about strategies for battles, it had degenerated into yet another heated argument._

"_Give it a rest Kai!" Shun yelled "You can't keep comparing the Bakugan to the Digimon. It's been a month now without one shred of physical evidence supporting your claim that they can actually think and feel. They're just game pieces so get over yourself!"_

"_What about the fact that they just so happened to come as the Digidestined just so happened to be preoccupied? Does that seriously not raise any red flags?" Kai demanded growing tired of Shun's arrogance "I know I'm right call it a feeling if you must, I honestly can't explain it but I know that Bakugan is more than just a game."_

"_Well I think I can" Shun fired back "you're a paranoid ex-Digidestined expecting the world to attack him simply because of his crest and your letting those fears guide you instead of just getting over them. It's not that difficult, next do you want to solve the mystery of why Aquos has a natural boon over Pyrus?"_

"_So were going there are we?" Kai asked in a cold tone_

"_We've already arrived" Shun replied_

"_Well I can't say I'm surprised Kazami, always so quick witted, so cool. If you spent as much time considering the bigger picture and training as you do sitting on your rear end expecting your mother to hand everything to you, then you might actually be able to beat me in a brawl one day!" Now things had past the point of no return, Shun's mother was a sore subject since she had recently been hospitalized with a severe medical condition. Shun was visibly fuming and looked like he was ready pound the life out of Kai._

"_At least my mom loves me" Shun replied placing the final nail in the casket as neither one of them had anything more to say to each other._

_Flashback End_

That particular argument had caused a falling out between the two friends as they unofficially decided not to talk to each other anymore. Kai knew that he had gone too far but didn't know how to apologize without accidentally just making things worse. Then before he knew it it was too late to take it back. Two weeks after their argument, Kai received a call from his uncle telling him that Shun's mother had just passed away and that Shun himself had been taken in by his grandfather to be trained as a ninja, there was no way that Kai knew he could get in touch with Shun so he was left without any way to apologize. He had promised then and there he would never let another friendship like that one fall apart again. He was pulled from his thoughts by Leonidas.

"Human" Leonidas began "When are we going to battle?"

"There's some people I need to talk to today. Tomorrow we'll battle for sure"

"Very well" Leonidas said with a sigh hoping to fight a battle soon. Kai was growing more concerned with Leonidas' aggression, he knew that something was off with his partner but he couldn't figure out what it was for the life of him.

One of Kai's friends was walking through a park on her way home thinking about Bakugan as well as Kai's theory. Part of her wanted him to be right so she could have a cool partner or something, but if he was right then things would end up getting really scary. Her name is Runo Misaki, wearing her classic white and yellow outfit with her blue hair ending in a pair of twin tails sharply contrasting her green eyes. As she kept walking, the wind suddenly picked up around her. She looked up and saw that she wasn't alone. A guy with tall blonde hair wearing a white trench coat with red and black gloves along with baggy red pants and black shoes was waiting for her.

"Who are you?" Runo demanded being met with silence as the stranger raised up a gate card. "A brawler?" runo realized in shock "Do you want to battle?!" Runo asked pulling out her own gate card, the stranger nodded. "I didn't catch your name"

"I never said it" the stranger spoke up "call me Masquerade."

"Sure, whatever" Runo replied

"Gate card, field open!" they yelled simultaneously beginning the battle

Later that night, Kai had just finished with dinner and was heading up to his room to talk with his friends online, Leonidas hadn't said a word since he had been told to wait a day to battle someone. Kai hoped he could figure things out with his partner soon otherwise things might not end well. Turning on his computer, Kai logged onto the Bakugan website and pretty soon all of his friends had logged on to talk. First was Runo who was a Haos battler, then there was Marucho who was a short kid with blonde hair and blue eyes who was an Aquos battler who wore a white and blue jacket along with blue shorts and red shoes. Then Julie who was a Subterra battler like Shuji only, you know, good. She had metallic gray hair and was more tanned than any of them, all of her clothes were pink as well as everything in her room. And finally there was Alice who didn't really play Bakugan but was more smart than either Kai or Marucho and was wonderful both with creating strategies and just being an awesome friend. She had fair skin with orange hair and wore a yellow dress with green on it. As Kai was about to tell them about Leonidas, he noticed that Runo wasn't acting like she normally did.

"Runo is something wrong?" Kai asked

"This creepy Pyrus brawler calling himself Masquerade battled me and, well to be honest I don't really know what he did to my Bakugan, only that I'm never going to see them again." Runo replied in a depressed tone

"How though? Last I checked, the rules specifically made sure that once a battle is over all Bakugan return to their brawler." Kai replied in shock

"Yeah" Marucho added in "We didn't even really make this game we just figured out it's rules as we went along, how can somebody just bypass them like that?"

"Maybe he was working within the rules" Alice thought out loud "There's still a lot about Bakugan that we don't understand, heck I wouldn't be surprised if Kai was right and the Bakugan really are sentient beings from another world, just like the Digimon."

"Whether he's working within the rules or not that doesn't change the fact that he's begun attacking innocent battler's. The good news is that he's bound by the game itself so the only way he can really keep taking people's Bakugan is a brawler agrees to battle with him like Runo did. Even so, he needs to be stopped." Kai observed

"What are you thinking Kai?" Julie wondered as Runo, Marucho, and Alice looked at him with curiosity.

"I think that tomorrow, Leonidas and I are going to have a little chat with Masquerade." Kai replied

"Whose Leonidas?" Marucho and Runo asked

"Oh right, I haven't had a chance to tell you yet. Well, it turns out that after my battle earlier today, I found a new Bakugan called Leonidas." Kai answered

"A new Bakugan?!" they all exclaimed

"Yeah, he can talk too."

"Really?" Runo asked

"That means not only you were right but Alice's earlier comment hit the nail right on the head." Julie commented

"Oh my" Alice said in surprise

"Not to doubt you Kai, but are you sure you weren't just hearing things?" Marucho asked

"Let's see Marucho" Kai said before calling out "Hey Leonidas, were going to battle someone really strong tomorrow!" Within seconds Leonids flew into his room and zoomed straight to Kai being perfectly seen by the camera.

"Yes!" Leonidas yelled "Finally some action, we'll take whoever it is down a peg tomorrow partner!"

"You bet we will" Kai replied as he turned back to the screen and had to hold back a snort at the mind blown faces of all his friends. "I better go and send my challenge to Masquerade guys" Kai told them

"Good luck" Julie said

"Let us know how it goes" Alice said

"I can't wait to hear about it" Marucho said

"Kick his butt and make him pay for taking my Bakugan!" Runo ordered and with that they all signed off.

"Human" Leonidas said "if that girl wasn't strong enough to keep her Bakugan why would she be worth your time?" instead of getting mad at the battle hungry Bakugan Kai just smiled

"Leonidas, the best a part about being weak is that you have plenty of room to grow and make everything that's weak into a strength. I haven't always won either you see. Defeat and loss are as much a fact of life as breathing and eating are. If we let it hamper us, then and only then are we truly not good enough. Do you understand?" Kai said

"I think I get the idea. Strength coming from an initial loss, I need to think on this some more" Leonidas waid folding back into a sphere.

"Goodnight then partner, tomorrow we battle." Kai said as he began to make a message for Masquerade.

About half an hour later in an evil lair, Masquerade was accessing the Bakugan website when he found Kai's message.

"Masquerade my name is Kai Eclipse, you're reign of stealing Bakugan is about to come to a sudden and cataclysmic end. Meet me tomorrow at noon underneath the bridge on Lexington Avenue in Wardington City. I'll give you a brawl you will never forget." Kai's message played out, causing Masquerade to smirk.

"Very well, Mr. Eclipse. Tomorrow then" he said

The next day came and before Kai knew it he and Leonidas were at the location only-

"This is the lamest trolling ever, of all time." Kai declared as Shuji was waiting for him

"Sorry your buddy Masquerade didn't show up, but don't worry I'll give you the loss you seek." Shuji taunted with a chuckle

"You know what, fine, beating you in a battle sounds like music to my ears right about now." Kai said as he and Shuji both pulled out gate cards.

"Gate card, field open!" They yelled causing the field to open up, the two of them set down their gate cards and began the battle.

"Bakugan brawl!" Kai yelled throwing down his first Bakugan onto his own gate card "Bakugan stand!" the Bakugan grew to full size revealing it to be a Darkus Robotallion.

"Darkus Robotallion power level at 310 G's" the bakupod reported

"Bakugan brawl! Bakugan stand!" Shuji yelled entering the battle

"Ventus Serpenoid power level at 290 G's" the bakupod reported

"What the heck, I thought you were Subterra?" Kai demanded

"Subterra was useless to me, so I decided to give Ventus a try." Shuji replied

"Oh wow, it takes a poor brawler to blame their Bakugan for a loss, in my book you've gone from inexperienced to pathetic." Kai said

"Shut up!" Shuji yelled in anger "Ability card activate! Air Battle!"

"Serpenoid power level raised to 340 G's" the bakupod reported

"Gate card, open!" Kai yelled, only the card didn't open "what?"

"Air Battle boosts my Bakugan and makes it impossible for you to use that gate card." Shuji said chuckling "Serpenoid attack!" the serpenoid struck down Robotallion and flew back to Shuji's hand.

"You pulled that one over me" Kai admitted "but it won't happen again. Bakugan brawl! Bakugan stand!"

"Darkus Terrorclaw power level a 300 G's" the bakupod reported

"Bakugan brawl! Bakugan stand!" Shuji yelled

"Ventus Falconeer power level at 300 G's" the bakupod reported

"Gate card, open!" Shuji yelled "Reloaded command card!"

"Terrorclaw power level lower to 200 G's. Falconeer power level raise to 400 G's" the bakupod reported

"Ability card activate!" Kai yelled "Dimension 4!"

"Power levels return to 300 G's in both Falconeer and Terrorclaw" the bakupod reported as Dimension 4 nullified the gate card

"Ability card, activate!" Kai yelled once more "Lunatic Burst"

"Terrorclaw power level raise to 500 G's" the bakupod reported

"Oh crap!" Shuji yelled as his Bakugan was defeated placing him and Kai in a tie

"Gate card set!" Kai announced throwing down a new card "Bakugan brawl, Bakugan stand!"

"Terrorclaw returns to the field with 300g's" the bakupod announces as Shuji throws in his own Bakugan. "Serpenoid returns to the field with 290 G's"

"Gate card open!" Kai announced "Joker's wild!" the battle ended with Shuji losing.

"What?!" Shuji cried in anger

"Joker's Wild is a command card that is used to forgo the battle and immediately hand victory over to a Darkus Bakugan." Kai informed him

"Gate card set!" Shuji threw down another gate card "Bakugan brawl! Bakugan stand!"

"Ventus Juggernoid enters battle at 250 G's." The bakupod reported

"If that's the best you can do this party's over." Kai said as he pulled up Leonidas "You ready for your first battle?"

"You know it, human." Leonidas replied

"Bakugan brawl! Bakugan stand! Go Leonidas!" Kai yelled placing Leonidas in play.

"Leonidas power level at 400 G's" the bakupod announced

"400?!" Shuji exclaimed in terror "Gate card open" as the gate card opened wind began gusting about.

"Juggernoid power increase to 350 G's" the bakupod reported

"Not good enough, Ability Activate!" Kai yelled

"Alpha Blaster!" Kai and Leonidas yelled at the same time causing the bakupod to report that the power increased in Leonidas to 500 G's as said Bakugan shot a mawful of lightning at Juggernoid immediately defeating him and ending the battle.

"You lost again?" Akira whined

"Shut up, I'm going home" Shuji yelled while bawling as he ran away.

"He did improve though" Kai commented with Leonidas hearing him

"He's your enemy though" Leonidas said

"Not really, sure he's annoying and arrogant but at least he's trying to get better." Kai replied

"I see" Leonidas said in thought as someone else spoke up.

"I'm looking for Kai Eclipse." both Kai and Leonidas looked towards the source of the voice to find the same brawler that defeated Runo. "I am Masquerade"

"Shall we cut to the chase?" Kai asked holding up his gate card again

"Sure" Masquerade replied holding his own gate card

"Gate card, field open!" they yelled initiating the battle.

"Gate card, set!" They yelled throwing down their gate cards. Suddenly Masquerade showed Kai a card he had never seen before it had a dragon's skull on it along with a black and gold outline.

"Doom card, set" Masquerade said as he dropped the card having the battlefield absorb it causing sickly purple ripples to spread as far as the I can see.

"Doom card?" Kai asked earning a laugh from Masquerade

"Bakugan brawl!" Masquerade yelled using a launcher on his forearm to throw down his Bakugan onto Kai's gate card. "Bakugan stand!"

"Pyrus Centipoid power level at 320 G's" the bakupod reported

"You're not messing around" Kai noted as he realized he needed to approach this with extreme caution. "Bakugan brawl! Bakugan stand!"

"Darkus Robotallion at 300 G's" the bakupod reported

"Gate card, open!" Kai yelled as the battlefield became covered in a purple mist

"Robotallion power level raise to 350 G's" the bakupod reported

"Ability activate" Masquerade said while dramatically pulling his ability card along in an arc over his head. "Back fire" the ability nullified the gate card reverting Robotallion back to 300 G's. Centipoid attacked and defeated Robotallion causing it to fly back, only instead of going back to Kai like it should have done, a giant portal appeared sucking Robotallion into a dark blue void.

"What the-" Kai had to physically keep himself from cursing "Where's Robotallion, bring him back!"

"Sorry, but that won't happen Kai" Masquerade replied with a grin "You see once the doom card is played, the game is over, and the nightmare begins. The Doom card doesn't affect me at all unless I were to make a sacrifice to beat you, but all of your defeated Bakugan are sent to the Doom Dimension for all eternity."

"The Doom Dimension?!" both Kai and Leonidas exclaimed

"I've heard about you before Kai, and guess what you were right about everything. Bakugan isn't just a game, it's a fight for the fate of not only yourself and your Bakugan but for two worlds as well." Masquerade said

"What do you mean?" Kai asked

"I'm not one to spoil a story. Bakugan brawl! Bakugan stand!" Masquerade yelled throwing down his Centipoid again onto his own gate card.

"Pyrus Centipoid returns to battle with 320 G's" the bakupod reported

"I won't back down" Kai snarled "Bakugan brawl! Bakugan stand!"

"Darkus Terrorclaw enter battle at 300 G's" the bakupod reported

"Ability card, activate!" Kai yelled "Lunatic Burst!"

"Terrorclaw power increase to 500 G's" the bakupod reported

"Gate card open, triple battle!" Masquerade yelled "Bakugan brawl! Bakugan stand!"

"Pyrus Stinglash joins battle with 300 G's" the bakupod reported, before Kai could respond Masquerade used another ability card.

"Ability activate! Doom Companion!" Masquerade yelled sending all three Bakugan to the Doom Dimension. This time Kai couldn't restrain himself.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" Kai exclaimed

"No price is too great to achieve victory, by the way thank you for being a Darkus brawler, I wouldn't have been able to use Doom Companion if there wasn't a Darkus Bakugan on the gate card."

"What would you gain from this?" Kai asked

"It's not what I can gain, it's that I can't afford to lose" Masquerade said

"Well, we both only have one Bakugan now" Kai said

"Better make that move count then, boy." Masquerade taunted

"Gate card, set!"Kai yelled throwing down a gate card "Bakugan brawl! Bakugan stand!"

"Darkus Leonidas enters battle with 400 G's" the bakupod reported

"I will destroy you!" Leonidas declared

"Bakugan brawl! Bakugan stand!" Masquerade sent in his final Bakugan

"Pyrus Reaper enters battle with 390 G's" the bakupod reported

"Ability activate!" Masquerade announced "Fire tornado"

"Leonidas power decrease to 300 G's Reaper power increase to 490 G's" the bakupod reported

"I won't lose Leonids too!" Kai yelled "Gate card, open! Command card, Level down!"

"Reaper power decrease to 390 G's" the bakupod reported

"Ability card, activate!" Kai yelled

"Alpha Blaster!" Kai and Leonidas yelled in unison as the latter fired lightning straight from his maw at Reaper, ending the battle.

"Not bad" Masquerade commented "You and that interesting Bakugan actually pulled through."

"I will truly beat you one day." Kai hissed "And when I do you will answer for your crimes."

"You're almost as aggressive as that Bakugan, want to know where it comes from.?" Masquerade asked

"What are you talking about?" Kai demanded as Leonidas sighed

"Kai, I was born in the Doom Dimension, it is feared by all Bakugan, I am unlike the others because I was born inside of their greatest fear." Leonidas said causing Kai to gasp in shock

"You have great potential Leonidas" Masquerade praised the Bakugan "I could use you, together we will dominate everything and destroy everyone, the brawlers and Digidestined alike."

"Maybe before I would've been tempted but not anymore. I am Kai's partner, and through him I have learned the importance of teamwork and friendship." Leonidas then turned to face Kai "You still want t be my partner right?"

"Leonidas I don't care where you were born, in fact in anything this is something we can relate to each other with." Kai said with a smile

"What do you mean?" Leonidas asked

"I'll explain later, for now just know that this doesn't change anything."

"Well, that's too bad" Masquerade frowned as he teleported away.

"We need to step it up partner" Kai began "We won only by the skin of our teeth, things will get much worse before they get better. For now though let's just head home and get some rest."

"Agreed" Leonidas nodded

**Now the war begins in earnest. Next time: Ch. 3: Pawns.**


	4. Pawns

**Chapter 3: Pawns**

Kai and Leonidas had gone home after their fight with Masquerade and reported to Tai about what had occured. Tai promised that he would keep an eye out but since he was only a diplomat there wasn't much he could do unless Masquerade began to attack Digidestined or their partners. Kai's friends had been shocked to hear about the doom dimension and were starting to battle more often as a way to prepare themselves for when they inevitably would be called upon to fight back. Meanwhile an old lesson the Digidestined learned made itself apparent to Kai and the others, school waits for no one.

After moving to Wardington, Kai had begun to attend the local school district and was currently in sixth grade. He always had trouble making friends at school since he received his crest, but ever since the Bakugan had first appeared and he realized that other brawlers weren't going to take his thoughts seriously, he just decided to keep the friends he initially made on the Bakugan website and not really try for anymore, and of course, there were the people he would never even consider being friends with even if they were the last people on Earth.

Kai was currently on the second floor of the school getting class materials from his lockers when a collective sigh from everyone around him alerted him to the arrival of the people he had no respect for whatsoever. Wardington's local Digidestined were a joke, specifically because they acted more like a gang than anything else. They thought no one could touch them because of their status and in a way they were right. About a year before Kai was born, a massive horde of Digimon had invaded Earth under the leadership of a newly revived Myotismon, at first the governments of the world had denied the Digidestined's aid and had even gone as far as arresting them if they tried to interfere with 'matters of global security'.

Naturally, things didn't go well for the soldiers that had been sent to fight an enemy that had them outmatched and outpowered. Once the Digimon had set up shop in South America forming their own foothold around the city of Sao Paulo in Brazil, the governments of the world relented and allowed the Digidestined to step in without interference. The invasion was mopped up and Myotismon was destroyed (again) within a week. In the aftermath, Tai and Davis who both stood as leaders among the Digidestined had negotiated a deal with the UN security council. This deal became known as the digital concordance, in no uncertain terms Digidestined and their partners received full diplomatic immunity and a modest paycheck in exchange for standing as sentinels around the world living ordinary lives until the next threat arrived for them to deal with.

Of course, there are always those who abuse power as Wardington's Digidestined were doing. The goons constantly got away with antagonizing other students and skipping classes as well as other juvenile antics. First there was Damien who was basically a larger Shuji who walked around with a Gekomon that shared his partner's habit for going a whole week without bathing. Then there was Dale who was tall, wiry, and buck toothed he had a Lopmon for a partner that loved swiping the wallets of other students, of course the wallets would be returned, but they would almost always have half of the money inside missing in action. And finally the leader of their group was a girl in Kai's class by the name of Diane, she was actually pretty normal looking except for the fact that she always wore expensive dresses and high heels to show off her paycheck for 'standing on guard', her partner was a Floramon that was basically a walking insult machine that had been known to make the more sensitive students cry just for fun. They called themselves the D-3's, an obvious knockoff that Kai would snort at every time he heard it.

As Kai had predicted, the D-3's were making a beeline for him. Kai never did anything to get in their way, but he was also the only student that they couldn't successfully mess with. When Kai had first been warned of those three he had adopted a personal ignorance policy, basically he neither spoke to them or gave them any response to anything whatsoever and thus they stood at an impasse, they couldn't get a reaction from him while he couldn't do anything to stop them without getting in trouble. That didn't stop the disgraceful trio from trying though.

"What kind of a name is Eclipse anyway?" the Floramon asked with an annoyed tone.

"Maybe he's one of those emo kids and consorts with the darkness" Diane jokes

"Don't you mean goth?" Damien chimed in

"I thought he was a vamp-kid" Dale added

"They're all the same" Floramon began "he's probably constantly depressed because his parents hate him or something like that." Kai had to bite on his lip not to respond to that one, they pushed this button all the time with him but he had been able to endure it before so he carried on with his business pretending like the D-3's didn't exist.

"Maybe he's contemplating the meaningless of life or whatever freaks like him do." Lopmon said causing them all to laugh as the bell signaling the end of the school day was rung. The D-3's along with all of the other students were out and about pretty quickly.

"What complete idiots" Leonidas commented not quite expecting them to be like that from what Kai told him.

"They're not worth our time" Kai replied "Let's go find a battle or two and then head home"

"Sounds good to me." Leonidas nodded, they went outside and had begun walking around. Half an hour later, they were on a bridge overlooking the river that cut around the downtown area when they ran into someone with burnt orange hair and wearing a blue jacket with a beige tank top along with khakis and Vans sneakers.

"Are you Kai Eclipse?" the boy asked, as Kai was about to respond he noticed a launcher on the boy's forearm that looked almost exactly like Masquerade's only with blue on it instead of red.

"Did Masquerade send you?" Kai asked, blatantly ignoring the name request

"I'll take that as a yes" the boy said 'my name is Riki Maru and I'm challenging you to a battle"

"And if I refuse?"

"You won't, unless you want me to find another brawler to use the doom card against." Riki replied bluntly with a smirk

"I thought so" Kai sighed pulling up a gate card prompting Riki to do the same

"Gate card, field open!" they yelled simultaneously causing the battlefield to form and time to stop.

"Gate card, set!" they laid down their cards, Riki quickly set his Doom Card before taking his first turn placing down another gate card before throwing his first Bakugan down.

"Bakugan brawl!" he threw his first Bakugan onto his gate card "Bakugan stand!" the Bakugan was an Aquos Robotallion, Kai was cautious not just because of the Doom Card but also because his skills with battling Aquos Bakugan were pretty rusty since it had some of the fewest users. Deciding to play it safe, Kai set down another gate card before utilizing his Darkus Falconeer which landed on the card he just threw down. To his surprise, Riki just threw down another gate card before sending his Aquos Juggernoid to stand on it. Kai had a feeling something bad would happen if he didn't move to attack.

"Bakugan brawl!" Kai yelled "Bakugan stand!" his Darkus Griffon was ready to take down Juggernoid when Riki made a counter play.

"Ability activate! Aquos Bubble" using the ability card, Riki moved Griffon over to an empty gate card. Kai was momentarily confused when he suddenly realised what Riki was going for causing his eyes to widen in horror.

"Oh no" was all Kai could get out

"What?" Leonidas asked, concerned

"You found me out did you?" Riki laughed "Well, I believe the saying goes: 'too little too late'. Bakugan brawl!" Riki threw down his last Bakugan revealing it to be an Aquos Siege. All Kai and Leonidas could do was watch helplessly as Riki did his worst. "Ability activate!" Riki yelled with a grin, whatever name the ability had was drowned out by the noise of a massive tidal wave washing over the battlefield pulling every single Bakugan on the field into the Doom Dimension except for Siege. Kai and Leonidas gasped, it had gone worst than Kai had feared, he had been expecting an Aquos triple chain attack that simply would've taken out his Bakugan not whatever just happened.

"Why would you throw your own Bakugan away like that?!" Kai exclaimed in rage

"Why wouldn't I get rid of those weaklings?" Riki laughed "with Siege, I have all the power I could ever want."

"You animal!" Leonidas yelled

"Leo, wait we need to plan our next move, we don't know what other tricks he has up his sleeve." Kai cautioned

"No, I'm taking him down now!" Leonidas announced as he rolled up and threw himself onto the same gate card as Aquos Siege.

"Leo!" Kai yelled in worry "Be careful"

"Use the ability card Kai!" Leonidas called as Kai looked at the Bakupod for the first time this battle.

"Siege power level at 350 G's, Leonidas power level at 400 G's" the bakupod reported, Kai looked at Riki Maru and was suspicious of the calm demeanor he presented for someone who was outgunned.

"Kai, what are you waiting for?" Leonidas asked

"Something's not right Leo, we need to be patient before we attack" Kai said

"Forget it, I'll do it myself!" Leonidas bellowed as he activated his own Alpha Blaster ability.

"Wait!" Kai yelled in shock

"Too late!" Riki chuckled "Gate card, open!" before the gate card could take affect, Kai intervened

"Ability card, activate! Dimension 4!" Kai yelled causing the command Card to shut down before it took effect. Leonidas gasped in shock realising that the card Riki had been activating was the Pyrus Command Card which automatically defeats the Bakugan with the highest G-power. Not only had Leonidas ignored his partner's warnings, but he had allowed his anger to lead him right into what would've been certain death if his partner was anyone but Kai.

"Oh no!" Riki yelled, realising that he lost his ace

"Finish it now Leonidas!" Kai ordered which Leo was more than happy to oblige. As the battle ended Riki ran off without a word, leaving the launcher and Doom Card behind. "Leo" Kai began "what were you thinking? You nearly got yourself thrown back into the Doom Dimension."

"I wasn't thinking" Leonidas replied with a solemn tone "I let my anger take over and neglected your advice."

"Well, let's just work on that for next time" Kai said, relieved that his partner was at least okay.

"There won't be a next time Kai" Leonidas said

"What do you mean?" Kai asked with worry

"I'm too reckless, at this rate I'll get us both beaten or worse sucked into the Doom Dimension."

"Leo, it was just a mistake" Kai tried desperately to reassure the Bakugan

"I'm sorry" Leonidas said before throwing himself up into a stream of wind that blew him off of the bridge and into the river.

"Leo!" Kai yelled in horror as he assumed that the current had pulled Leonidas away forever.

**Leo and Kai are seperated, but will common ground end the doubts of a regretful Bakugan? Nect time: Ch. 4: Recovery. **


	5. Recovery

**Chapter 4: Recovery**

Kai had been supposed to have a video chat with his friends tonight, but he just didn't feel like talking to anyone. He was feeling depressed at the idea that Leonidas didn't want to be his partner anymore. Things had been going good too, sure there was the issue of Masquerade and Leo's recklessness to be concerned about, but it wasn't anything impossible. Kai simply couldn't figure out what had driven Leo to leave, he hadn't known his Bakugan for long but he knew him well enough to know that he wasn't the type to give up easily. Leo had mentioned that he was worried he would get Kai into danger if he stayed but Kai would be in danger no matter what considering he was on Masquerade's hit list as was evidenced by Riki Maru coming after him, so Kai had to wonder if that was all there was to it or not.

Eventually, Kai went to his bedroom and pulled open his nightstand drawer. There were Bakugan cards and a few candy bars inside of it along with a gray device kind of like a Nintendo Gameboy that was heavily dented and had the glass screen shattered. This was Kai's digivice, or what had used to be his digivice. As he held the device in his hands, he thought back to the day it was broken and his partner, Impmon had been taken from him.

_Flashback_

_Kai, Impmon, Hikaru, and Renamon had been with all of the other children of the original Digidestined at the reunion they held at the old summer camp where his uncles, father, and their friends had first been pulled into the Digital World. The kids and their partners had all been playing hide and seek while their parents had all been summoned to the Digital World by the Sovereigns for reasons that were left unexplained. It was around 12:30 in the afternoon when the original Digidestined had all returned. There was a somber look on all of their faces as they called together their kids._

"_Hey guys" Matt said "We need you to go check up on Elecmon and the Primary Village, think you can help with that?"_

"_Yeah" they all said in excitement_

"_Kai, Impmon, we need to talk to the two of you for a minute." TK had said before the two could join the others in their trip to Primary Village._

"_Is everything okay dad?" Kai asked_

"_I can't be a part of this" Tai said "Kai, I'm sorry, I tried to talk them out of what they're going to do, but they wouldn't listen." with that Tai and Agumon left the group and went deeper into the woods._

"_Mom, dad, what's Uncle Tai talking about?" Kai asked worriedly_

"_Kai, there has been a new prophecy delivered. We need you to step away from Impmon." Matt had said_

"_Why" Kai asked beginning to panic "You're going to hurt him aren't you?"_

"_We don't have a choice" Kari said, hoping her son would just back away._

"_He's my partner." Kai had all but yelled_

"_He is the enemy!" his father spat out "Not only does he digivolve into Devimon but he's also going to turn you evil and become a demon lord like Daemon, the prophecy the Sovereigns delivered said as much."_

"_That's not true, Impmon would never become as evil as Daemon." Kai replied refusing to move even an inch_

"_Digiworld prophecies are never wrong" Izzy pointed out "Impmon may not be evil now but he will be soon enough."_

"_Step away Kai" his father had ordered "let us get this over with"_

"_No, I won't let you take Impmon from me!" Kai yelled_

"_You don't have a say" Matt said with narrowed eyes as Davis and Ken ran towards the two and began dragging Kai away from Impmon_

"_No!" Kai yelled causing his digivice to light up sending Impmon to his Champion form Devimon. Apparently the others were prepared for this as their Digimon all went to the Champion form as well except for Gatomon who went to Ultimate. Devimon fought back trying to defend himself as the ten Digimon swarmed him, given their numbers and experience he hadn't stood a chance. Soon enough, Devimon was on his knees panting while the other Digimon surrounded him._

"_Please, don't do this" Kai's partner begged as Angewomon used a Celestial Arrow to delete the pleading mon._

"_NO!" Kai screamed as his partner disappeared, suddenly an idea began to form in his head, Primary Village, if he could get there he could find Impmon's digi egg and bring him back. Sadly, he wasn't the only one who thought of this as TK took his sons digivice from him._

"_We can't let you bring back the enemy" TK said as he strode back to the campsite and used one of the camps baseball bats to smash Kai's digivice until he was sure it couldn't be used again._

"_No!" Kai yelled once more as his desperate hope was destroyed before his eyes, it was at this time that the other kids returned from the Digital World and were taken by the parents to go fishing, leaving Kai alone as the sky began to get cloudy, the boy just sat on the ground and began to cry._

_Flashback end_

Now Kai was alone once again, only this time, Leonidas left him on purpose. In a sudden burst of emotion, Kai threw his totaled digivice against the wall and began to cry alone just as he had that day.

School came once again for Kai who hadn't been able to get much sleep at all the night before, luckily the D-3's were out for the day due to a mandatory Statewide Digidestined conference so he didn't have to deal with their idiocy. Even so it was a pretty rough day, Kai had been nodding off in the hallway when he accidentally bumped into a classmate of his named Ryo who dropped the computer he was using to show off some Bakugan strategies to some of the other brawlers at school, Kai had tried to apologize but the kid didn't want to hear it leaving Kai feeling both depressed and guilty.

After what had seemed like an eternity, school finally ended for the day and Kai began to head home when he was stopped by Ryo.

"Look Ryo, I'm sor-" Kai tried to apologize again but was cut off

"I want a battle Kai" Ryo said raising a launcher that was an exact replica of Masquerade's and holding a Pyrus Reaper in the palm of his hand.

"Ryo, you don't know what you're doing" Kai tried "Masquerade can't be trusted"

"Oh, shut up!" Ryo yelled "I'm going to make you pay for trying to sabotage me"

"I bumped into you by mistake!" Kai yelled starting to get really mad about everything

"That's not what Masquerade said, and since you've done less for me than he has, I think I'll take his word over yours."

"Fine then" Kai said pulling up a gate card and opening the battlefield as Ryo did the same, they set down their first gate cards after Ryo set the Doom Card.

"Bakugan brawl! Bakugan stand!" Ryo yelled placing his Pyrus Fear Ripper onto his own gate card. Kai checked his Bakupod to see what he was dealing with.

"Pyrus Fear Ripper power level at 320 G's" the bakupod reported. Kai set down another gate card and placed a Darkus Gargonoid on it.

"If this is the best you can do, then I'm disappointed" Ryo mocked as he set another gate card down on the battlefield "Bakugan brawl! Bakugan stand!" a Pyrus Mantris appeared on the newest gate card. "Ability activate! Marionette!" the Mantris used the ability to pull Gagonoid over to it's gate card before slashing it and sending it to the Doom Dimension.

"Gargonoid!" Kai yelled as it unfolded, he should have been able to see it coming but he wasn't really thinking right now with how angry and stressed he was feeling. The Mantris returned to Ryo's hand as Kai threw down Darkus Juggernoid causing Ryo to play his Mantris yet again before-

"Ability activate! Doom Companion!" Ryo yelled causing both Juggernoid and Mantris to be sent to the Doom Dimension.

"No!" Kai yelled as he lost a second Bakugan to the Doom Dimension as he became even angrier.

"My strategy is playing out perfectly, I may not even have to play Reaper this game." Ryo laughed, Kai finally snapped and decided to attack the Fear Ripper head on.

"Go Centipoid, Bakugan brawl! Bakugan stand!" Kai yelled as the next battle begun "Ability card activate! Vortex Dark Flame!"

"Centipoid power level raise to 390 G's" the bakupod reported before Centipoid defeated Fear Ripper leaving Ryo with only Reaper.

"Betting everything on Darkus Centipoid?" ryo mockingly asked with a smirk "what happened to you're pet Leonidas?"

"Leonidas isn't my pet!" Kai shrieked momentarily stunning ryo before the latter began to chuckle sinisterly.

"Whatever, let's just end this already." Ryo said as he threw Reaper onto the final gate card. Kai threw down centipoid and opened the gate card raising Centipoid's level once again to 390 G's.

"Nice try Kai' Ryo said "Ability activate! Back Fire!" with the gate card nullified Centipoid's power level fell to 330 G's allowing Reaper to send him to the doom Dimension with ease. Kai had lost for the first time ever, and Kai had no one to blame but himself for not focusing properly. As the battlefield faded away, Kai fell onto his knees while Ryo walked away laughing. Kai knew he needed to get a grip and figured the best way for him to do so was to find Leonidas and convince him to be partners again. As Kai thought about it, he realised that the river bed was pretty rocky and that there was a chance he could still find Leonidas if he went to look. Kai ran back to the river as quickly as his legs could carry him and promptly dived in to begin searching for Leonidas, it took a few minutes but thanks to the reflection a passing cars headlights showed he was able to find the Bakugan without too much trouble.

"Kai?" Leonidas asked surprised

"Leonidas, I'm sorry if you don't want to be my partner bu-"

"No Kai, it's not that I don't want to be partnered with you"

"Than what is it, because I'll be in harms way no matter what with Masquerade on the warpath." Kai pointed out

"Kai, I was born in the Doom Dimension, I'm naturally prone to battle and action and as a result I'm not fit to be your partner, you deserve better than me." Leonidas said

"No" Kai replied

"What?" Leonidas asked

"Leonidas, most human kids don't live alone like I do." Kai began before telling the Bakugan everything about him and what everyone back in his birth place other than his Uncle and Sister thought. "So you see Leonidas, I don't care about any of that. You may be more gung ho than other Bakugan but that doesn't make you a liability. We're both outcasts, we need each other. Please, I can't lose another partner not after Impmon." Kai finished as tears began to fall from his eyes

"Kai" Leonidas whispered in shock, he never imagined he would have so much in common with someone like Kai, he was friendly and organized he seemed like the exact opposite of what Leonidas was, and yet here they were soaked with lake water and standing at a crossroads. Leonidas looked into the eyes of his partner and knew that if he caused Kai anymore pain by leaving him, than he would never forgive himself. "I'm sorry, I promise I won't leave."

"Thank you Leonidas" Kai sighed in relief "let's head home and grab a couple more Bakugan, we have some unfinished business with a classmate of mine who's been deceived by Masquerade."

"You got it, partner" Leonidas replied

About an hour later Ryo and Kai ran into each other again in Downtown Wardington.

"Ryo I want a rematch" Kai declared

"You want me to send more of your Bakugan to the Doom Dimension? Okay then" Ryo replied with a grin as they opened the field, set their respective cards and began the battle. "Bakugan brawl! Bakugan stand!" Ryo placed down his Pyrus Fear Ripper on the field. Kai had some extra Bakugan of each variety back home so he was able to use all of his strategies and Bakugan even if some had been sent to the Doom Dimension.

"Bakugan brawl! Bakugan stand!" Kai set down a Darkus Robotallion on a second gate card that he placed down. Ryo set a fourth gate card and set another Pyrus Mantris on it.

"Ability activate! Marionette!" Ryo yelled causing his Mantris to drag Robotallion to Fear Ripper. "Gate card, open!" Ryo called out causing the field to be covered in flames while raising the power level of Fear Ripper up to 400 G's.

"Ability card activate! Grand Down!" Kai yelled out causing Fear Ripper to drop back down to 320 G's while his Robotallion was at 330 G's. His Robotallion defeated the Fear Ripper giving Kai the advantage.

"What?!" Ryo exclaimed

"You made a big mistake making me you're enemy Ryo, I'll knock some sense into you yet" Kai said as he threw down his second Bakugan, a Darkus Stinglash, on the same gate card as Ryo's Mantris.

"Gate card open! Quartet battle! " Ryo yelled causing his Reaper to enter the fight as Kai sent Leonidas to join in. "Ability card activate! Fire judge!" at this point, Mantris and Reaper's combined power was 850 G's while Leonidas and stinglash were sitting at 780 G's.

"Ability card activate!" Kai yelled "Vortex Dark Nova!" the power of Ryo's Bakugan dropped to 650 G's, technically the battle was already won, but Kai wasn't feeling merciful today "Ability card, activate! Alpha Blaster!" Leonidas and Stinglash attacked Reaper and Mantris together and won the battle.

"I lost" Ryo said

"Do you see now?" Kai asked drawing Ryo's attention "Masquerade doesn't care about you, he's just using you as a pawn. I'm sorry about your computer, I really am, but how about I just buy you a new one instead of going to Masquerade for the power to destroy me and Leonidas?" Kai asked extending his hand

"Ok then" Ryo said taking Kai's hand "I actually feel pretty embarrassed looking at these forsaken abominations." Kai chuckled as he used his foot to smash the launcher that Masquerade had given him and ripped up his Doom Card before he and Kai walked to the local Best Buy.


	6. Runo

**Chapter 5: Runo**

Kai sat at the kitchen table in his home the following morning eating some eggs and toast. After he and Leonidas had defeated Ryo and got him a new computer from Best Buy, he was left with the awkward explanation of how he was able to do so without parental permission, once he showed the clerk his ID, they stopped giving him a hard time knowing he was an emancipated minor. He had made up a bogus explanation for Ryo telling him that his parents had died during a camping trip almost a year ago. As strange and quick as the situation was it made Kai realize that he might have to use that same explanation for his friends as well. He and Leonidas had been getting along great since their heart-to-heart at the river, but Kai still wasn't comfortable bringing everything up with his friends, not yet at least.

Today was a new day though, and he and Leonidas would actually not be actively looking for a battle for once. Kai had realised the night before that if they didn't take time away from battle every now and again they would eventually be worn out and start making stupid mistakes at the worst time. So basically, today was a do nothing day for the two of them, but first, Kai wanted to get some frozen pizzas from the store because he wanted to be lazy and not cook an actual dinner.

Kai was finished fairly quickly with his shopping and was on his way home with Leonidas when someone who was skipping hit into him sending both himself and the person to the ground. As Kai got to his feet he recognized the person who bumped into him.

"Runo?" Kai asked in surprise

"Kai" Runo replied, shocked to see him

"You live near here?" Kai asked

"Yeah, just a couple streets away." Runo admitted

"Same here, I come here to get groceries all the time, how have I never seen you before?"

"My thoughts exactly" Runo chuckled as she noticed what Kai was carrying "Frozen pizzas?"

"Yeah, just feeling a bit lazy today" Kai said

"Why would you need to make your own dinner though?" Runo asked causing Kai to realize he had let his guard around that particular subject slip

"My parents died during a camping trip almost a year ago." he lied, still afraid to say the true story

"Oh" Runo said "I'm sorry to hear that"

"It's alright" Kai replied "I better get going" Kai ran off with Runo looking towards him with pity before she noticed that he had dropped his Bakupod. As Runo picked it up, she noticed that he had a message. Runo's curiosity got the better of her and she played the message to find out that he was being challenged to a battle by Masquerade. Runo felt bad for not immediately going after Kai, but she still wanted payback for what happened to her Bakugan so she made her way to where the battle had been set.

Meanwhile, Kai finally realised that he had dropped his Bakupod and had gone back to the market with no success in finding it, at that point he figured out that Runo must've picked it up. Kai began to make his way home again and as he was passing by the park he noticed Runo facing off against a kid dressed in green with blue hair armed with a launcher that looked just like Masquerade's.

"I was expecting to face off against Masquerade." Runo complained in exasperation

"Well, I was expecting to be battling Kai Eclipse, not some lame girl." the kid complained

"We'll see who's lame when I beat you" Runo yelled in anger as she raised up a gate card, her opponent did the same and Kai ran down to them with his own card raised as they opened the battlefield. While Masquerade's latest pawn set the Doom Card, Kai got Runo's attention.

"Runo"

"Kai, what are you doing here?"

"I was walking home after failing to find my Bakupod, and stumbled upon you about to battle this guy." Kai replied with a chuckle

"Oh right" Runo blushed in embarrassment handing Kai back his Bakupod "Kai, please let me battle this guy, I need to show that I just won't roll over while brawlers and their Bakugan are being threatened."

"It's your call partner" Leonidas chimed in "Personally, I'd love to fight another battle but if you believe that she can do this-"

"She can" Kai nodded "You go right ahead Runo, I'll be right here with you the whole time."

"Thanks Kai" she smiled before turning to her opponent with a determined look on her face, "let's do this, punk!"

"It's about time" the kid replied with a sneer

"Gate card, set!" both Runo and her opponent set their first gate cards

"Bakugan brawl!" Runo yelled out "Juggernoid stand!" her Haos Juggernoid landed on her opponents gate card.

"I can't believe you went for such a lame Bakugan!" her opponent taunted as he threw his Pyrus Gargonoid onto the same gate card. "Gate card, open!" the gate card caused fire to ignite around the Bakugan.

"Pyrus Gargonoid power raise to 430 G's, Haos Juggernoid power level at 320 G's." the Bakupod reported, the Gargonoid attacked intent on sending Juggernoid to the Doom Dimension when Runo made her move

"Ability card, activate! Lightning shield!" Runo yelled causing Gargonoid to drop to 330 G's, unfortunately it wasn't enough as Juggernoid was sent to the Doom Dimension seconds later. Runo decided to waste no time getting back into the battle. "Bakugan brawl! Bakugan stand!" Runo's Haos Saurus rose on her gate card, her opponent used Gargonoid again.

"Ability card, activate! Fire Judge!" he yelled causing Gargonoid to rise back up to 430 G's while Runo's Saurus was resting at 290 G's.

"Ability counter, activate!" Runo yelled using an ability card to nullify the Fire Judge.

"Nice try, girlie, but sti-" her opponents mocking was cut off as Runo activated her gate card.

"Gate card, open! With this gate card, Saurus' power level will rise to the same a Tigrerra's."

"What?!" her opponent exclaimed

"Who's Tigrerra?" Kai asked

"I am" Tigrerra replied floating at the same height as Leonidas "You missed the video call the other night, I'm Runo's partner much like Leonidas is yours"

"It's good to meet you Tigrerra" Kai greeted with a hand wave

"I concur" Leonidas said turning towards her

"Why thank you" the three returned their attention to the battle just in time to see Gargonoid get beaten by Saurus, evening the match between Runo and her opponent. Runo excitedly set another gate card before throwing Saurus back into the match as her opponent sent in a Pyrus Griffon.

"Ability activate!" her opponent yelled with a grin "Fire Wall!" the Griffon used the G power boost to attack which turned out to be exactly what Runo wanted him to do.

"Gate card, open! Pyrus!" with that, Runo successfully exchanged the G power of her Saurus with its opponent causing Griffon to be defeated and giving Runo the advantage in the battle. "How does it feel to lose to a girl?" runo taunted angering her opponent as she threw down a third gate card before throwing Saurus down for a third time. Her opponent replied by throwing down a Pyrus Fear Ripper. "Gate card, open!" Runo yelled "Triple battle!"

"Aw no fair" her opponent complained

"Shut it" Runo angrily snapped "I'm sick of losing my Bakugan to the Doom Dimension so why should I hold anything back?"

"Such fiery passion" Tigrerra approved of her partner

"Are you ready?" Runo asked her "I've been saving the best for last."

"Of course" Tigrerra said, rolling into ball form as Runo threw her into the battle.

"Ability card activate!" Runo yelled as Saurus and Tigrerra moved into attack "Crystal Fang!" after that it was all over, Fear Ripper was beaten easily causing the battle to reach its end. The kid ran away leaving behind the launcher and Doom Card.

"Nice win, Runo" Kai congratulated

"Thanks Kai" Runo smiled before glancing down to the bag Kai was carrying "Uh oh, looks like you're pizza's ended up going bad"

"Aw man" Kai groaned

"Hey" Runo said

"Yeah" Kai replied

"How about you come by my place tonight for dinner? Then you won't have to go shopping again." Runo suggested

"Would your parents mind?" Kai asked concerned

"Not if it was to help a friend, besides it seems like you could use the company."

"Thanks Runo" Kai replied with a smile

"No problem, come on let's get going"

**The Brawlers have begun to come together, meanwhile Masquerade continues his hit and run ****recruitment's****. Next time: Ch 6: Tag Team Vanishing Act.**


	7. Tag Team Vanishing Act

**Chapter 6: Tag Team Vanishing Act**

Dinner at Runo's house had gone great for Kai. It was a bit strange giving his fabricated story for the third time in 24 hours, but it served its purpose. Still, maybe Kai had put too much effort into it because as the night was ending they had suggested that Runo take Kai to the local fairgrounds so he could 'live life' for the day. And so here they are, and it was actually pretty enjoyable. Kai was of course still focused on defeating Masquerade, but that didn't mean he couldn't still enjoy his life while he did it. Today had been one of the best days he had in months and he was okay with not battling again today, granted he would get two battles in soon. Be careful what you wish for right.

"And now, for our next trick we need two volunteers from the audience!" an enthusiastic red haired magician on stage announced as Runo and Kai were passing by, the two of them decided to volunteer and were chosen to come up.

"Now pick a card, any card" the second magician with purple hair instructed the two battle brawlers.

"Go ahead Runo" Kai said with encouragement

"Alright then" she said with a nod and a smile before walking up to the table "I'll choose" her finger wandered over the row of cards before picking one "this one!" Runo yanked up the card only to gasp in shock along with Kai when they discovered it was a Doom Card.

"I am Kenta and this is my brother Kenji" the red head said

"And we will destroy you in a battle." Kenji affirmed

"And you couldn't think of a better way to fight us than in front of people who probably think we're nuts right about now?" Kai deadpanned

"Hey, where's the magic trick?" a voice Kai recognized asked

"Please no" Kai said facepalming

"What?" Runo asked

"Oh, if it isn't freaky Kai" Diane's Floramon gushed as the other D-3's strolled to the front of the crowd.

"Runo" Kai frantically whispered to his friend "whatever you do, don't respond to these people in any way, they're like trolls, but since they're technically Digidestined we can't do a thing to stop them."

"Don't worry Kai, I wa-" Runo was cut off by Lopmon

"Hey, is that blue dye in your hair, or are you just naturally ugly?" the little Digimon harped causing the entire group to laugh

"Maybe she's cosplaying something bland like a lake" Diane commented before looking Runo up and down "a polluted one from how unattractive she looks" she added on earning another round of laughs. From the look on Runo's face, Kai wasn't sure if she was about to try and pick a fight with them or if she would just start crying. Thankfully, they wouldn't find out which it was since Kai suddenly had a stroke of genius.

"Oh my gosh, it's really the D-3's" Kai yelled in fabricated excitement as he jumped off the stage "we aren't awesome like you, so we can't possibly entertain these people. I'm sure you would make yourselves even more awesome by showing off your stuff."

"You know Kai' Diane said with a smirk "You're still a freak, but when your right, your right. Let's get up on stage guys." she announced to her cronies earning a cheer from each of them as Kai quickly got Runo, Kenji and Kenta off the stage.

"Let's head to the Ferris wheel" Kai told them "We can battle there as far away from those pathetic idiots as possible."

"Well, looks like for enemies we can actually agree on something" Kenta said with a nod. The four began to make their way to the Ferris wheel as Kai hung back with Runo wanting to make sure she's alright.

"How are you doing Runo?" Kai asked in concern noticing how she was staring at the ground as they walked

"Are they right about me?" Runo asked in a whisper as a tear began to roll down her cheek

"Of course not" Kai said "I don't think I'll be ready to date for a while but I can tell you that you're absolutely stunning, not just with your looks but with your personality too."

"You really think so?" Runo asked as she wiped the stray tear off of her cheek

"Yes" Kai said with a blush, not really sure where this strange feeling had come from although he had decided that when he was ready to tell his friends the truth, Runo would be the first to hear it.

"Thank you Kai" Runo said cheering up

"Who were those people anyway?" Kenji asked with curiosity

"Wardington's local Digidestined" Kai sighed "they're petty and pathetic and honestly as an ex-Digidestined myself I can say that if those three and their partners don't get they're act together they'll end up dead the first time they fight a real enemy."

"You never did tell me or the others why you weren't one anymore" Runo realized

"It's a long story, one I'd rather not share in present company"

"Fair enough" Kenta said "we are working for Masquerade after all'

"Why though?" Kai asked

"What do you mean?" Kenji asked him as Runo also looked his way in curiosity

"Why are you two working for Masquerade, as far as I can tell he only recruits people that desire something strongly enough to fight for him."

"Well" Kenta began "the thing is Kenji and I don't really see much of each other outside of days like today. Our parents decided that they weren't ready for children after we were born, so we were put into the foster system as newborns. To make a rough situation worse, there wasn't enough room for both of us in one foster home so we were separated."

'"That must really be difficult" Runo said sadly

"It is" Kenji replied "Luckily we live close enough that we can visit each other every now and again."

"It isn't enough though, is it?" Kai asked knowingly

"No" Kenta agreed "when Masquerade approached us earlier today, he said that if we beat you and your friend in a Bakugan battle using the Doom Card then he would make sure we weren't separated anymore."

"What do you know of Masquerade?" Kai pressed

"Honestly?" Kenji asked earning a nod from Kai "we think he's a rat and a monster with how he mercilessly sends Bakugan to the Doom Dimension."

"Yeah" Kenta agreed "We don't really want to fight you guys, but it's the best chance that we have at being together for more than one day a month."

"Knowing what you do about Masquerade, do you really think he'll keep his end of the bargain?" Kai demanded

"What do you mean?" Kenji asked

"Masquerade is basically a serpent in the garden, he'll say anything to get what he wants but it's all a lie. I get that you have a good reason for doing this, and I'm glad to know that there is one, but in the end when Masquerade lets you two down you'll have nothing to show for it except for the Bakugan that would be rotting in the Doom Dimension."

"That's easy for you to say" Kenta snapped with a clenched fist "you have no idea what it's like being forcibly separated from your sibling, to be given up by parents who don't want you"

"I actually know quite a bit about that" Kai said

"What?" Runo asked as the group arrived to the front of the Ferris Wheel line, paying their tickets they entered one of the cars and sat down as the Ferris wheel began moving. Kai wasn't sure about what he was about to do, but if it meant saving Kenji and Kenta from this false hope he knew he had to tell them everything.

"Truth is, my name wasn't always Kai Eclipse" he began "my name by birth was Kai Takaishi and my parents are two of the original Digidestined, TK and Kari Takaishi."

"I thought your parents died" Runo said

"That was a lie" Leonidas chimed in as he popped onto Kai's shoulder

"Thats right" Kai admitted "allow me to explain, a few years ago when I was just entering Kindergarten, I along with my twin sister Hikaru, our cousins, and the other children of the original Digidestined received our Digivices and crests" Kai continued as he showed the four of them his crest "This is my Crest of Darkness, I was given this specifically while my sister got the Crest of Hope." Kai went on to explain about his old partner Impmon, about his early childhood being harassed and taunted because of the crest, and then about the prophecy, impmon's deletion, and his Digivice being shattered. "I got mugged a couple of days later and my parents actually thought that because of me being 'corrupted' I tried attacked someone. They disowned me later that day. Several days, an emancipation, a citizens test, and a bank account later I had to say goodbye to my sister and moved here to Wardington." he concluded

"Oh wow" Kenji said in shock to the story

"I do get it, I haven't seen or even heard from Hikaru in almost a year. It sucks, all of it does, but I'm making the most of it. I don't have all the answers you two, but I do know that if you follow through with this you're going to be sorely disappointed." Kai reiterated

"I'm sorry man" Kenta said thinking back to his earlier outburst "I shouldn't have said that"

"Things will get better if you have faith and work for the improvement" Kai promised with a sad smile "I can't promise it will happen anytime soon, but I do know that you and your brother will end up together, you don't have to give in to Masquerade."

"Your right" Kenji said

"Yeah, we'll still get our wish, but this time, we'll get it the right way" Kenta agreed as he and Kenji ripped their Doom Cards in half.

"Awesome" Runo said

"Hey" Kai said

"Yeah" Kenji asked

"Since we're up here anyway, how about a Bakugan battle. Just for fun though." Kai suggested with a smirk

"Sounds great" Kenji and Kenta said at the same time

"I'm down for it" Runo said

"All right, a tag team then me and Runo versus you two" Kai set up

'Perfect" the brothers agreed as all four of them raised up gate cards

"Bakugan! Field Open!" the battlefield appeared allowing the four to set their gate cards.

"Gate card, set!" Kai yelled placing down a fifth gate card "Bakugan brawl!" Kai threw a Bakugan down onto his first gate card. "Darkus Warius stand!"

"Darkus Warius at 330 G's" the bakupod reported

"Bakugan brawl! Pyrus Siege stand!" Kenta yelled throwing a Bakugan down on the same gate card as warius stood

"Pyrus Siege at 320 G's" the bakupod reported

"Ability card, activate! Fire wall!" Kenta called out

"Pyrus Siege power raise to 380G's" the bakupod reported

"Gate card, open!" Kai yelled out "Pyrus command card activate!"

"G power exchanged between Siege and Warius complete" the bakupod said as Warius struck Siege and won the first battle for Kai.

"Nice one" Kenta complimented with a laugh as Runo took her turn

"Bakugan brawl! Haos Hynoid stand!" Runo yelled as she threw her first Bakugan onto Kenji's gate card.

"Haos Hynoid enters battle with 320 G's' the bakupod reported

"Bakugan brawl! Darkus Bee Striker stand!" Kenji yelled as he threw down his Bakugan to battle Runo's

"Darkus Bee Striker enters battle at 340 G's" the bakupod reported

"Gate card, open!" Kenji yelled out "Quartet battle, activate!" with this card active Kenta threw down a Pyrus Centipoid to join the party while Kai sent in his Darkus Stinglash.

"Ability card activate!" Kenta yelled out "Hexagonal link between Pyrus and Darkus!"

"Centipoid and Bee Striker combined power level at 880 G's Hynoid and Stinglash power level at 650 G's." the bakupod reported

"Ability card, activate!" Runo called out "Hexagonal combination between Haos and Darkus!"

"Hynoid and Stinglash combined power level at 750G's" the bakupod reported

"Ability card activate!" Kai yelled "Eclipse assault!"

"Centipoid and Bee Striker power level fall to 680 G's" the bakupod reported

"What?!" Kenji exclaimed

"Eclipse assault is one of my favorite abilities, it nullifies your abilities" Kai informed them as Hynoid and Stinglash won the match leaving Kenta with only one Bakugan and Kenji with two. "Bakugan brawl!" Kai yelled out throwing a Bakugan onto the second card he placed down "Darkus Warius stand!"

"Warius returns to battle at 330 G's" the bakupod reported

"Bakugan brawl!" Kenji yelled tossing down another Bakugan "Darkus Siege stand!"

"Darkus Siege enters battle at 330 G's" the Bakupod reported

"Ability card, activate" Kenji yelled out "Spiced assault!"

"Warius power decrease to 230, Siege power increase to 430 G's" the bakupod reported

"Gate card, open!" Kai called out "Mind Ghost activate!" with that both Bakugan were defeated leaving Kenji and Kenta with only one Bakugan each while Kai had two and Runo still had three.

"Bakugan brawl!" Runo yelled throwing down a Bakugan onto the gate card she had set "Tigrerra stand!"

"Bakugan brawl!" Kenta yelled sending his last Bakugan to combat Runo "Pyrus Stinglash stand!"

"Gate card, open!" Runo called out "Quartet battle activate!"

"Bakugan brawl!" Kai yelled "Leonidas stand!"

"Bakugan brawl!" Kenji called out "Darkus Ravenoid stand!"

"Ravenoid and Stinglash combined power at 680 G's Tigrerra and Leonidas combined power at 740 G's" the bakupod reported

"Ability card activate!" Kenta yelled "Fire Judge!"

"Ability card activate!" Kenji joined in "Oregano Revenge!"

"Tigrerra and Leonidas power level fall to 540 G's, Ravenoid and Stinglash power increase to 980 G's" the bakupod reported

"Ability card, activate!" Kai called out "Merge shield!"

"Ability card, activate!" Runo joined in "Crystal fang"

"Tigrerra and Leonidas power level raise to 940 G's" the bakupod reported

"Ability card, activate!" Kai called out "Alpha Blaster!"

"Let's finish this Leo" Tigrerra said

"Agreed Tigrerra" Leonidas replied as they attacked their opponents and won the game. As the battlefield faded away, the Ferris wheel came to a stop and the small group stepped out and went back into the crowd as the sun began to set.

"Wow" Kenji said "I can see why Masquerade is trying to knock you guys down, you were amazing."

"You guys did good too." Kai replied

"We better get going" Kenta sighed sadly

"Yeah, we need to go too" Runo said

"It was fun battling you, and Kai" Kenji said

"Yes?" Kai asked

"Thank you, it is hard, but it will work out"

"No problem" Kai waved at the two as they went their separate ways "this is getting out of hand" Kai told Runo as they began walking home

"I see what you mean"

"Masquerade is using the brawlers own struggles to turn us against each other, and what really scares me is that we still have no clue what the endgame is.

"We'll figure it out, and when we do we'll make Masquerade pay" Runo promised with a determined look

"Sounds good" Kai and Leonidas both nodded as they continued on to their respective homes. "Runo, I know I lied to you and I'm sorry"

"Why did you lie though?" Runo asked "aren't we friends?"

"We are" Kai said reassuringly "I was just afraid that if you knew the whole story you wouldn't want anything to do with me."

"Don't be an idiot" Runo said "We are friends, nothing will change that. Besides who in their right mind wouldn't want a friend like you, you were able to defuse that situation nicely."

"Well, I haven't always been a good friend" Kai replied thinking about Shun before returning his thoughts to the present "There's another reason I lied too Runo."

"What?" Runo asked

"Well, it hurts less to pretend that my parents are gone than it does to say to everyone that they don't want me." Kai answered with a shaky voice as they reached his house "Well, this is where I'm o-" Kai was cut off as Runo hugged him

"I'm sorry Kai, I can't imagine what it's like to go through that. If there's anything you need just let me know okay?" she said

"Thanks Runo" Kai replied "That means a lot to me" with that Kai entered his home as Runo made her way back to her own home.

**Another Brawler to come with a, shall we say, unique Bakugan. Next time: Chapter 7: Marucho**


	8. Marucho

**Chapter 7: Marucho**

The next day, Runo, Kai, and their partners were walking around town trying to find a battle when they saw a construction crew put the finishing touches on a building that they had been working on for the past couple of years.

"Have you ever been able to figure out what they're building?" Kai asked his friend

"Not a clue" Runo replied "It's probably something like an airport with how big it is though."

"Maybe it's a new football stadium" Kai suggested

"It's cooler than either of those" a voice cut into their conversation, Runo and Kai looked to see Marucho walking towards them.

"Hey Marucho" Kai greeted

"It's good to finally meet the two of you in real life" Marucho said to both of them

"Likewise" Runo said with a smile

"So Marucho, do you know what they just finished building?" Kai asked

"Yep, thats my house!" Marucho exclaimed

"I think I might've misheard you, did you say that this giant building is your house?" Kai said as Runo just stared in shock

"Yep, my family and I are living here" Marucho nodded

"Wait a minute" Runo said "Your last name is Marakura right?"

"Yep" Marucho nodded again

"Wait, as in Marakura Solutions?" Kai asked

"That's right, I guess you could say that I'm the heir to the company." Marucho laughed "Were having a housewarming party tomorrow in the afternoon if you want to come by, everyone's invited.

"Sweet" Kai said

"We'll be there" Runo nodded

"Awesome" Marucho said in excitement "I better get going, I'll see you guys later!" Marucho waved goodbye as he jogged away

"So, Marucho is rich" Kai said in amazement as he and Runo waved goodbye to their little friend.

"Yeah, I wonder what the inside of his house is like" Runo pondered

"We'll find out tomorrow" Kai pointed out as they turned around and headed home.

The next morning Kai was cleaning up his breakfast when his uncle called.

"Hi Tai" Kai greeted as he answered the phone

"Just calling to check in" Tai said prompting Tai to explain the events of the last few days surprising his uncle in that he both lost his partner and got him back in a 24 hour period, Tai was impressed with how Kai was handling the situation and even seemed to be making friends from it as well.

"Did you have any luck?" Kai asked

"Nope, Masquerade seems to have been pretty much everywhere on Earth, no matter who I ask, they always lose track of him just a couple of hours after he appears. It's like he's a ghost" Tai replied with a sigh

"That's too bad, although I can't say I'm surprised" Kai said "Masquerade kind of did come out of nowhere when I battled him on Lexington."

"At any rate, it's only a matter of time before Masquerade finds stronger battlers to fight for him" Tai commented

"Marucho just moved in so were growing along with Masquerade at least" Kai said

"That's a relief" Tai agreed "there is strength in numbers. How are things with Runo since she heard about your past?"

"Great, she was completely understanding and supportive of me. She reminds me a lot of Hikaru." Kai replied "Later today, were going to a housewarming party at Marucho's 'house'."

"I notice you use the term house lightly" Tai commented

"Well, remember that giant building that was being constructed when I moved in?" Kai asked

"What does that have t-" Tai began before stopping himself "You cannot be serious"

"Yeah, Runo and I were surprised to" Kai chuckled "apparently Marucho is the heir to Marakura Solutions"

"He'll be a valuable asset to the battle brawlers with that kind of connection" Tai pointed out

"Sure" Kai allowed "But the important thing is that he's our friend and teammate, everything else comes second"

"Spoken like a true leader" Tai approved "Agumon and I have a meeting soon so I have to go. Have a good day Kai."

"You too, Uncle Tai" Kai responded as they hung up. A few hours later Kai met up with runo at the park and they began to walk towards Marucho's house. "Hey Runo, just an hour ago I got a message from Kenji and Kenta" Kai informed her

"Really?" Runo asked "What was the message?"

"Apparently last night as Kenta was dropping Kenji off, a family wanted to meet with both of them and they got adopted, now they're living with them."

"That's wonderful, no they won't be separated anymore" Runo said

"Yeah, I'm real happy for them" Kai nodded

"I guess you were right about things getting better" Runo chuckled

"Sounds like it" Kai said as they continued their trip.

"Hey Kai?" Runo asked

"Yeah?"

"Do you think we could get your sister to come and visit?"

"I don't know" Kai replied with a sigh "I've tried to contact her, but I haven't heard anything back. My guess is TK and Kari are screening my phone number and email address in an effort to keep her from seeing me"

"Have you ever tried to send her written mail from an alias?" Runo asked

"Do you mean using my real address here in Wardington along with a fabricated identity to get in contact with her under the noses of my former parents?" Kai asked

"Yeah, I know handwritten letters aren't super reliable but it seems like it could work." Runo pointed out

"I'll be honest, I've never thought to try that. I guess with having access to almost anything instantly I kind of forgot about the mail. Thanks for the suggestion, I'll give it a try." Kai replied with a nod

"Awesome" Runo said "What kind of name do you think you'll use?"

"I was thinking a name like Mylene Pharaoh so they'll think it's just a pen pal writing her." Kai replied

"What kind of a name is that?" Runo laughed

"It's America" Kai defended "diverse parenting styles along with online pizza ordering are the norm here."

"Fair enough" Runo said "It's not like we'll ever meet someone named Mylene Pharaoh anyway"

"Why do I have a feeling you just tempted the universe?" Kai asked with a sigh

"Figure it out later, were here" Runo replied pointing towards the behemoth that their friend lives in. Sure enough, there were quite a few people around town inside, including-

"All we need is Kevin Bacon and this could turn into Footloose" Kai deadpanned

"For real, these goons are going to cause more trouble aren't they?" Runo asked with a sigh as the D-3's were meandering around the lawn

"Finally, some neighbors with class" Diane spouted causing her gang to agree with her

"I can't believe they let all these losers in" Gekomon grumbled

"Oh well, let's hit the buffet table" Damien suggested causing the group to groan

"At least they seem pretty docile today" Kai said with a sigh of relief

"Let's go find Marucho" Runo suggested earning a nod from Kai as they went off to find their friend. They found Marucho inside the foyer of the 'mansion' (can something this big even be considered a mansion)?

"Hey guys" Marucho greeted "I'm glad you could make it, want to have a tour of the grounds?"

"Sounds like fun" Kai agreed as Runo nodded causing Marucho to lead them deeper into the house. As the tour began, they passed a large area that was packed with people inside of it.

"This is our ballroom" Marucho said "This is where we hold parties and, for my father's additional use, business meetings." Runo was about to ask a question when the D-3's located the group

"Well, if it isn't freaky Kai and Ugly Lake cosplayer" Floramon said in a mock greeting

"Hey kid" Diane spoke to Marucho "why would you spend time with these stains when you could have us as your friends."

"I don't want friends like you" Marucho replied with a frown "leave me and my friends alone"

"Or what?" Dale mocked "According to the Digital Concordance, you can't harm us at all"

"True, but the Concordance does say that residents have the right to kick Digidestined out of their homes if they begin causing disturbance." Marucho pointed out causing them to pale

"Your bluffing" Lopmon said quickly

"No, I've been raised to be entirely honest in my dealings with others. Now, you can either leave the premises or I can get the police involved." Marucho shot back, making it clear that his patience was running thin

"Well, we have other places to be anyway" Diane sputtered

"Yeah, we can't waste our time here" Floramon said as they carefully, but quickly, got out of dodge.

"That was amazing, Marucho" Runo said with a thumbs up

"If only that same clause extended to public places" Leonidas said appearing on Kai's shoulder

"Yeah" Kai said "I really should let Uncle Tai know about them, so he can see about giving people like the D-3's less power. I guess with all of the Doom Card business, I just haven't had the time"

"I doubt that will change anytime soon" Marucho sadly replied "Oh well, let's continue the tour." he cheerfully as he led his friends away from the ballroom. First, they passed a massive room with an indoor fountain decorated with replicas of historical statues, then the tour lead them through an indoor zoo followed by a room that somehow looked like a plain with cattle grazing.

"I'm not even going to ask how a room like this one is possible" Kai deadpanned

"I haven't figured it out either" Marucho chuckled

"When your parents build a house, they don't go halfway" Runo said as they continued on. Next they stopped by an extravagant looking room that they thought was a bedroom with how ornately decorated it was.

"I wonder who sleeps in here" Runo said

"No kidding" Kai replied as Marucho began laughing

"Guys look in the center of the room" Marucho said before he began laughing again. As Runo and Kai took a closer look they realized there was a toilet inside of the room.

"This is the bathroom?!" Kai and Runo exclaimed in shock before they began laughing with Marucho

"Uh, what're you laughing about" a new voice asked, the group looked in the direction of the voice to find an Aquos Bakugan standing there.

"Who are you?" Tigrerra asked the new Bakugan

"Allow me to introduce myself, I am Aquos Preyas" the Bakugan said in greeting

"Preyas?" Marucho asked

"Yep, by the way, what is this place?"

"My house"

"Really, you live here?" Preyas asked

"Yeah" Marucho asked

"Where are you from Preyas?" Kai asked

"Well, I was chilling in Aquos land, until this wierd bang sounds and next thing I know, I'm on some old lady's roof!" Preyas exclaimed

"A bang?" Tigrerra questioned

"Yep" Preyas said

"That's just like what happened in Vestroia"

"What's Vestroia?" Kai asked

"It's the world where Bakugan come from" Tigrerra explained "What about you Leonidas? Did you notice a bang as well?"

"No, I didn't" Leonidas said "But I think I know why"

"You sure about this buddy?" Kai asked

"They're going to find out sooner or later" Leonidas nodded before telling the others about where he's from.

"Must've been a ripple effect from the destabilization of Vestroia" Tigrerra mused

"Talk about crazy!" Preyas exclaimed

"Is that it?" Leonidas asked

"What do you mean?" Runo asked the Bakugan

"I was born from the Bakugans worst fear, the Doom Dimension is where I've always lived, don't you hate me?"

"Why? It's not like your evil or something" Tigrerra pointed out

"If a Doom Dimension Bakugan can be here without hurting people or siding with someone bad, they're fine in my book" Preyas said

"Hey Preyas" Marucho said

"Yeah?" Preyas asked

"Since you're already here, do you think you'd like to be my partner Bakugan?" Marucho asked

"Sure, why not, I mean your friends have partners, so why shouldn't you?" Preyas replied causing Marucho to cheer

"Marucho?" Tigrerra asked

"Yes tigrerra?"

"Would you be okay if we came back tomorrow?"

"Sure, what do you need here?"

"I just think it's time we all had a talk, but it's already getting dark out so tomorrow would work best." everyone agreed and decided to reconvene the following afternoon.

**Next time: Chapter 8: Meetings and Recruitment**


	9. Meetings and Recruitment

**Chapter 8: Meetings and Recruitment**

"Thank you all for coming to my home for this meeting" Marucho said with a bow "I hope refreshments are to your liking."

"Thanks Marucho" Kai said with a smile, he and the other brawlers were at Marucho's for the meeting Tigrerra asked for, except for Julie and Alice who were connected through FaceTime. "I believe Tigrerra wanted to have a word with us" Kai finished causing everyone to turn towards Runo's partner

"Indeed" Tigrerra replied "I feel that as things are escalating, that it is time to tell you all about Vestroia" tigrerra had everyone's undivided attention as they waited for her to continue "The six attributes define more than just abilities, each of the six spaces in the Vestroia are named by the attributes of the Bakugan that live there. Basically, the six attributes are the six worlds as well."

"So, Haos and Darkus and the others?" Runo asked

"That's right" Tigrerra nodded "at the center of Vestroia there were two cores, the Silent Core which contains negative energy and the Infinity Core that carries positive energy. Vestroia was once balanced by both cores, but things changed when a rogue Bakugan named Naga attempted to seize power for himself by travelling to the heart of Vestroia. He tried to absorb the Silent Core and that is what caused the 'bang' Preyas was talking about, but Bakugan weren't the only things thrown into the human world. As I was thrown out of Vestroia, I saw the Infinity Core flying through Haos Space and flying toward Earth."

"Wait, so you're saying that the Infinity Core is here on Earth?" Kai asked

"Yes" Tigrerra replied "And with how selfish and cruel Naga is, I doubt that the negative energy of the Silent Core could destroy him. And if that's the case, we need to assume that Naga is still alive and plotting until we hear otherwise."

"Naga sounds like Masquerade" Runo mused

"Yeah, you're right" Marucho gasped

"What does this mean?" Julie asked

"I don't wanna think about it" Alice said

"We shouldn't jump to conclusions" Kai advised "but we can't rule anything out either, there is a chance that Masquerade and Naga are in cahoots, or it could all be one huge coincidence."

"Wait, I thought that Bakugan in Vestroia were bound to their attribute space" Leonidas commented "If that's the case, how did Naga manage to get to the center of Vestroia?"

"Well Naga never belonged to one of the attributes to begin with." Tigrerra began "He and his twin sister, Wayvern are known as white ones they have no attribute and are wandering in empty space between the worlds, or at least they were."

"But there should've been protections in place to keep something like this from happening." Preyas argued

"There were" Tigrerra said "Until a human was able to cross into Vestroia" everyone in the room gasped in shock

"Who?" Kai asked, voicing the question on everybody's mind

"His name was Michael" Tigrerra said

"Michael?" Runo asked

"Hold on!" Julie said, jumping up from her computer desk and digging around in her closet

"There's like a million different Michael's alive throughout the world" Kai said "How are we supposed to find the right one?"

"Guys!" Julie yelled drawing all of their attention to the screen "Take a look at this!" Julie held up a Science book

"You're summer reading assignment?" Kai asked knowing that summer break was only a few weeks away

"Ah!" Julie exclaimed before opening the book and frantically flipping through the pages before finding what she was looking for "aha!" she yelled showing the page of the book to the group that contained the photo of an aging scientist. Alice gasped in shock as Marucho nodded

"It makes sense!" Marucho declared "That is Dr. Michael Gehabich, he's a scientist that disappeared a few months ago while researching teleportation"

"Technology like that would be revolutionary" Runo gasped

"I know it's a longshot but it's a lead at least" Julie sighed

"Agreed" Kai said as he noticed how uncomfortable Alice was "Hey Alice, is everything okay?"

"Oh yeah, sorry it's just that" Alice shook her head "It would be best if I explained it in person"

"Oh, are you planning on coming over?" Kai asked

"Yep" Alice smiled "I wanted to see Marucho's house for myself anyway so I'll come over on a plane tomorrow"

"Ok" Kai replied with a smile "We'll be sure to welcome you" getting the others to agree instantly

"Thank you" Alice said

"No problem" Runo replied as Kai cleared his throat

"There's another thing we need to address" Kai replied "If this pattern continues then Julie will find a partner of her own sooner or later."

"I can't wait" Julie gushed in excitement

"We know" Marucho chuckled

"But, it's only a matter of time before Masquerade sends more powerful henchmen after us." Kai continued "I have an idea, but first I'm open to whatever thoughts you have"

"Well, we just have to keep training right?" Runo asked

"That's all well and good, but training will only take us so far. We need a full team" Marucho said

"Exactly what I was thinking" Kai agreed "Right now our team represents four of the six attributes. Runo is Haos, Marucho is Aquos, Julie is Subterra, and I am Darkus"

"That's right" Marucho nodded "We still need a Ventus brawler and a Pyrus brawler before we're at full strength."

"What about Shun Kazami?" Runo said "Isn't he a Ventus brawler in the top 10?"

"Yeah" Alice replied "with the recent power changes he's resting around sixth place on the world rankings, speaking of which Kai have you checked the rankings for yourself lately?"

"No" Kai replied

"Well I am right now and it looks like over the past week you've risen up to Rank Nine" Alice said

"Whoa seriously? Kai's in the top 10 now?!" Marucho gasped

"Apparently" Kai replied, he didn't really care about rankings he was just focused on getting stronger

"It makes sense" Runo shrugged "He is the only one who's been able to beat Masquerade and he's only lost one battle since Bakugan started."

"Yeah, but were getting sidetracked" Marucho said "Shun sounds like a good suggestion"

"Sure, but we don't even know where he lives" Kai pointed out

"Do you know Shun?" Alice asked

"Yeah, he and I were friends from when I was living in Japan, but he and I had a falling out before his mother died and his Grandpa took him in. I have no idea where to find him." Kai replied

"I can do some research and find it out" Marucho offered

"That might be our best option" Kai said "I would suggest Komba but from what I've heard he's far too bratty and annoying to fit in a team effectively so Shun is our best bet. Marucho, how long do you think it will take you to get the address?"

"A day or two most likely" Marucho answered

"Good" Kai nodded "Once you have it, I'll go and talk to Shun. It's about time that I apologized to him for what happened."

"Shouldn't more than just you go, Kai?" Runo asked "I mean were a team"

"Normally I would agree with you" Kai began "But if we go and make a case for the cause, we'll almost certainly be denied if not by Shun, then by his grandfather who hates Bakugan and sees it as a waste of time. But if I, an old friend of Shun's go and apologize to him and show that I regret what I did then maybe, just maybe he'll give us a chance."

"That makes sense" Marucho said

"Alice how long until you can be here in Wardington?" Runo asked

"I can board a plane tomorrow morning and be there in around eighteen hours" Alice replied

"Marucho, how long exactly do you estimate it would take to get that info?" Kai asked

"About eighteen hours, once I do, I can have my butler Kato transport you there." Marucho said

"Ok then, Marucho and Runo you guys should pick up Alice from the airport while I go and talk to Shun, once I get back, we'll begin discussing next steps" Kai said

"Sounds like a plan" Runo agreed

"This is gonna be so awesome" Marucho said in excitement

"Until then, unless somebody else has anything to say" nobody responded "all right then motion to adjourn?" Kai asked

"You could just say the meetings over" Runo said

"Yeah, but I wanted to sound as official as possible, we are trying to save the world now with our new objective of finding the Infinity core and defeating Masquerade" Kai replied

"He has a point" Marucho said

"Alright then" Runo smiled "I second that motion"

"All in favor" Kai asked

"Aye" Everyone replied as they went their separate ways

Later that night, Kai was sitting on his desk writing a letter to his twin sister, Hikaru. He had already finished the envelope along with the alias of Mylene Pharaoh replacing his own name above his return address.

_Dear Hikaru,_

_It's me Kai, I figured TK and Kari were screening communications so I decided to try writing to you using an alias. I figured you would be interested in what has been happening over here at my new home, so I'll fill you in. About nine or ten months ago, while all of the Digidestined were in the Digital World, card began falling out of the sky. We don't know what caused it, but we do know that these are no ordinary playing cards. With the cards came the Bakugan, sentient beings not unlike the Digimon that come from another world called Vestroia. I knew that something would go wrong sooner or later and I was right. One day in Vestroia, a rogue Bakugan calling himself Naga tried to steal ultimate power from the twin cores of the world: Infinity and Silence. This act threw Vestroia out of balance and as a result, even more Bakugan were thrown into our world, including my partner Leonidas. He's a Darkus Bakugan born inside another reality called the Doom Dimension, basically it's like Bakugan hell. He was extremely aggressive when I first met him, but he has since begun to mellow out. Speaking of the Doom Dimension an additional threat has emerged in the form of Masquerade, an evil Bakugan brawler that will stop at nothing to send all the Bakugan that oppose him to the Doom Dimension for all eternity. Between fighting Masquerade, searching for the Infinity Core which was also thrown into Earth, and preparing to fend off Naga when eventually he tries to finish what he started my new team and I have our work cut out for us. I hope you are doing well, sis. I miss you, and if there's any way I can help you please just let me know._

_Sincerely,_

_Kai Eclipse_

**Can two former friends reconcile and work to save the world? Next time: Shun.**


	10. Shun

**Before the chapter begins, I have a few notes. First of all, this will be the last story of Darkus Eclipse being posted for a while. Not because, I need a break or anything but because this chapter is the perfect segway into the first Darkus Eclipse side story that I will be writing before we return to the main plot. Warning: there are major deviations from Bakugan canon in this chapter. Enjoy and if you have any questions or comments feel free to let me know in the reviews!**

**Chapter 9: Shun**

"Master Kai, we will be landing at the Marakura Kyoto landing strip shortly" Kato (Marucho's butler) announced over the loudspeaker

"Thank you, Kato" Kai replied with a smile as he prepared to disembark. Marucho had been able to pinpoint the location of Shun's new home to a private estate just outside of Kyoto. To say that Kai was nervous would be an understatement, not only had he returned to the country of his birth, but Shun had every right to just turn him away without Kai being able to make it through the front door. Even so, this had been put on hold long enough, he needed to make up with Shun. Earning his forgiveness and help could literally mean the difference between saving the world and losing it.

As the private plane landed, Kai strode out and immediately entered a waiting Limousine that began driving off towards the estate. As the ride passed, Kai couldn't help but wonder what his sister and her friends were up to. He had sent his letter a few hours after the meeting at Marucho's house, so it would take at least 4-5 more days for her to receive it. Hopefully she would end up being okay, if not, he would do what he could to help her. Kai lost himself in the drive as the limo pulled through the city and gradually made its way into the woods. Kai sighed as he noticed several people being arrested by the police, all of them wore the symbol of Myotismon on an armband. You would think that Earth's people would be bitter and resentful towards an entity that nearly destroyed them on multiple occasions and for the most part, this was the case, however around the time Kai was born a new organization rose. They became known as the Cult of Crimson Lightning. They were fanatical supporters of Myotismon even after destruction and they were hellbent on destroying the Digidestined, not that they had any real success, the Cult didn't have any Digimon in it's ranks, that being said, if they found a way into the Digital World that would quickly change. They were most active in Japan so it was only a matter of time before he saw something like this.

Kai pushed the Cult out of his mind as the limo turned onto a dirt road as they made their final approach on the estate. Once there, Kai stepped out and walked to the front gate. He used an iron knocker that hung on the door to let them know someone was here. About a minute later, an old man who was obviously Shun's grandfather opened the door.

"Who are you?" Shun's grandfather demanded

"My name is Kai Eclipse, I apologize if I caused any inconvenience with my visit, but I was wondering if Shun was here by any chance." Kai replied respectfully

"Why?" the man asked again with a distrusting look in his eye

"I made a terrible mistake some time ago, and I haven't had an opportunity to apologize until now." Kai informed him "May I deliver my apologies to him in person?" Shun's grandfather obviously was thinking about it. He had expected this boy to try and drag Shun back into one of those games he used to play, but how could he deny him a chance to make up for a mistake he made?

"Very well" the old man allowed bringing Kai inside the estate and guiding him to where his grandson normally spent his free time. They passed by a Koi pond and arrived at the part of the estate where Shun could usually be found. "He should be in there, if not then he will be there before the day is up."

"Thank you" Kai said as he made his way up to the door. Knocking on it once, the door opened to reveal his old friend. "Shun" Kai greeted

"Kai" Shun replied

"Do you mind if we talk?" Kai asked

"No problem" Shun said allowing Kai into the room as he closed the door behind them. Kai took his shoes off and sat down facing Shun. "It's been awhile" Shun remarked

"Yeah, it has" Kai replied with a sight "Shun I'm going to get to the point, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have been so short tempered and I definitely shouldn't have used such a sore subject against you in that argument."

"Thanks Kai" Shun said with a small smile "I need to apologize to though, I used an equally sore subject against you, two of them actually, and on top of it all you were right."

"Shun, you haven't done anything with Bakugan in months, how could you know I was right?" Kai asked confused

"I've known you were right since the day my mother died, and I met a sentient Bakugan that wanted to stay by me. My mom actually gave her to me as she passed away." Shun replied

"You have a partner too?" Leonidas asked as he joined in the conversation

"Leo" Kai sighed as he wanted this to be a private conversation

"Sorry partner, I just got curious is all"

"It's alright" Shun said reassuring the Darkus Bakugan "Speaking of partners mine isn't here right now"

"Why not?" Kai asked

"The same reason I was planning on sneaking out tonight" Shun began "Yesterday, while I was in the city, some Digidestined tourist from Odaiba found my partner Skyress and took her. I tried to get him to give it back but he refused."

"And because of the Digital Concordance you couldn't do anything about it" Kai realized

"Kai" Shun said "I would like help from you and uh-"

"Leonidas" Kai's partner officially greeted Shun with a nod

"Thanks" Shun said returning the nod "I would like help from you and Leonidas to find Skyress. What do you say?"

"Were in" Kai replied without hesitation while extending his hand which Shun took eagerly "Who's the tourist in question?"

"The tourist's name is Riku Ishida, his father is your Uncle Matt." Shun answered with a flinch knowing that this would make things complicated

"Crap, I guess I should have seen it coming" Kai sighed in exasperation, Riku had always been the most aggressive towards Kai even before the prophecy was delivered, and now, he would have to be careful with his planning and execution if he was to help Shun get Skyress back. "How long do we have?"

"Riku and his parents return to Odaiba by plane tomorrow at six in the morning" Shun informed his friend

"Well Shun" Kai chuckled "With my brains"

"My training as a ninja" Shun chuckled with a smirk

"And I'm also here" Leonidas reminded them

"We should be able to pull off this, well it isn't a heist if it's your Bakugan to begin with."

"Reverse heist?" Shun offered

"That works" Kai nodded as the two began to plan

Later that evening, Kai and Shun watched the inside of the hotel room the Ishida's were staying in through two pairs of binoculars. They were situated in two conjoining hotel rooms that Marucho was able to help them procure over the phone. Kai was situated in a room that gave him a view of the living room in their suite while Shun could easily see the bedroom where Riku was sleeping. They had been staking the suite out for about an hour now and once the family was either gone or asleep, they would put one of three plans into motion. As it just so happened, Marucho's family owned the hotel that Matt and his family were staying in so he had access to security cameras and was keeping an eye out for anything unusual along with Runo and Alice. While Julie couldn't really do anything, she and her partner, Gorem who she found the other day were tuned in as well.

"Is this really the best idea?" Julie asked in anxiety

"If Gorem was taken instead of Skyress, would you be so conflicted?" Kai asked the girl with sincerity

"Fair point" Julie sighed as Marucho spoke up through bluetooth much as Julie and the others could do.

"Kai, they're about to get visitors" Marucho warned

"Who?" the Darkus Brawler asked as he saw the door to the suite open through his binoculars and nearly gasped when he saw TK, Kari, and Hikaru walk into the suite with their partners. "This isn't good" Kai was able to voice, as much as he wanted to see Hikaru again, this was literally the worst possible time.

"What do we do Kai?" Shun asked as he knew things just got worse

"I'm open to suggestions" the de facto leader of the brawlers answered

"I have an idea" Alice spoke up "Marucho, is there a restaurant near the hotel?"

"Well, there's actually a restaurant built inside the hotel." Marucho replied

"Of course there is" Runo giggled "with a house like yours Marucho, nothing about the buildings you're family owns could surprise me."

"Marucho" Alice continued "Aren't most of those Digidestined seasoned heroes and leaders in their society?"

"I think I get what you're saying" Marucho and Kai said

"What?" Julie asked

"It's simple" Kai began "Marucho can contact the hotel and have them honor the heroes and their party to a five course meal in the restaurant. And while they're there-"

"Shun can infiltrate the suite and get Skyress back!" Runo finished excitedly

"Yes" Alice confirmed "However, there is also the chance that Riku Ishida could be keeping Skyress on him at all times."

"Would it be possible to divide and conquer?" Kai asked

"What do you mean?" Shun asked

"Well, you and I are the onsite brawlers so you can take the suite and I'll disguise myself so I can get into the restaurant undetected, we'll keep our earpieces in and if you can't find Skyress, just let me know so that I can try and snag it off of Riku."

"I can get you a table as well Kai, and Kato is good with disguises, he'll be there in half an hour to help you out with one, and once that's over, you'll practically arrive at the same time as Riku and his friends." Marucho agreed with a nod as he rapidly sent an email to the manager of the hotel

"Kai, how will you do it?" Runo asked

"Slip on a banana peel, act like I'm sick and fall on him, bribe the waiter to spill a drink on him so I can corner him in the bathroom and grab Skyress off of him. The possibilities are endless, it's just like a game of Assassin's Creed only with no killing involved." Kai replied

"Kato is on his way Kai" Marucho reported "he'll be there in about twenty minutes, best case scenario, Shun will find Skyress right off the bat and you'll just get to enjoy a four and a half star dinner in peace. Worst case-"

"And he'll have to improvise" Julie sighed "Just don't get arrested you two" Julie advised Shun and Kai "the last thing we need is two of our toughest brawlers in jail"

"Agreed" Kai said as the group temporarily disconnected to take a break before the reverse heist would commence.

About an hour later, Kai strode into the restaurant with his disguise on. Kato was proving to be an amazing Jack-of-all trades as the disguise was phenomenal. He looked like a short elderly man with gray hair on his head and fake wrinkles along his body. He wore a white long sleeved dress shirt with a black tie matching his slacks, dress shoes, and socks. He carried a wooden cane and walked with a fake limp to give the disguise realistic support as well as a blunt object in case he needed to either ambush Riku or get out of there quick. Walking up to the restaurant's podium, Kai spoke hoarsely.

"Eclipse, party of one" Kai said earning a nod from the greeter

"Right this way, Mr. Eclipse" the greeter ushered him into the dining area. The woman led him over to a small table and as he sat down she gave him a menu. Leaving Kai to wait for his waiter the greeter returned to the podium, as Kai was browsing through the menu, he caught a glimpse of Riku and his group entering the dining room and being sat just a couple of tables away from him.

"Kai, we see that your in the restaurant" Marucho said over the earpiece "Just act natural and wait for Shun's report" Kai simply nodded in response as his waiter came over

"Would you like a glass of our Red Wine?" the waiter asked holding up a bottle

"No thanks" Kai replied in his hoarse tone "Just some water"

"Very good, sir" the waiter nodded as he took off to fulfill the request. Kai returned his attention to the menu as Shun reported that he would wait about twenty minutes to infiltrate so they could be sure the suite was empty. The Digidestined were close enough for Kai to hear their conversation and he couldn't help but eavesdrop.

"It was nice of the Marakura's to have us here" TK noted

"Yeah, something like this is just what I needed" Matt nodded

"The Cult" Kari almost whispered "their growing more aggressive, rumor has it they even have secret weapons that their preparing for war"

"We'll be okay" Riku said confidently "They have you and our generation to stop them." this earned an agreement from his partner who was an Elecmon

"I like the attitude" Matt smiled "but just because the Cult hasn't proven to be any more than a minor threat yet doesn't mean that they'll stay that way."

"Secret weapons" Hikaru mused

"Could they be talking about the disgrace?" Riku asked causing Kai to clench his fist as he knew that Riku was talking about him

"Impossible" TK huffed "Without Impmon he's nothing more than a common boy, that being said he still could have been recruited by them"

"Dad" Hikaru sighed "I don't understand why you can't just believe in him, the Digital World isn't perfect, as the many evil Digimon prove. The prophecy could've been wrong too."

"Sweetie" Kari said "It's nice that you want to look out for him, but we have yet to see an inaccurate prophecy, we did what we had to to protect everyone."

"I'll respect your opinion about him" TK added in "But if you think for one minute that I'll allow you any kind of contact with the disgrace you're wrong." it took all of Kai's willpower not to stand up and yell at them, but he was able to control himself. Luckily, the waiter came back to him allowing him to take a break from eavesdropping.

"Have you decided on a meal yet, sir?" the waiter asked as he set down Kai's water

"Yes" Kai began again "I'll have the Beef Wellington"

"Excellent choice" the waiter complimented as he went to fill in the order, Kai began listening in again

"You don't think that the cult managed to get into the Digital World, do you?" Kari asked

"If they did, we would know" TK scoffed

"Yeah, they would've attacked already" Matt agreed "No, whatever their secret weapon is, it has to be much more subtle."

"Guys" Shun spoke over the earpiece "I've just entered the suite, it shouldn't take more than five to ten minutes for my search." as soon as he heard that, Kai decided to plan out what he would do if Skyress wasn't in the suite. After a few minutes Shun spoke again

"Dammit" Shun sounded aggravated "he must have taken her, Kai it's up to you" Kai simply nodded in reply knowing that Marucho would let him know that he would do something. As Kai was about to make his move, he was grabbed from behind and had his right arm forced behind his back. The next thing he knew there was a gun pressed against his head and the waiter raised the gun up and fired off two shots before yelling at the dinner goers to shut up as Kai's earpiece fell out and landed on the floor.

"I am with the Cult of Crimson Lightning" the waiter announced with a cackle "Unless you want this old man to die, I suggest that Riku Ishida comes quietly." The Digidestined rose and faced the cultist who was holding Kai hostage, luckily he was still disguised otherwise he genuinely wasn't sure if he would make it out of this alive or not without being accused of acting as a plant for the Cult.

"Riku!" Matt yelled as the boy in question stepped forward

"I can't just let him die father" Riku stated "Besides, the Digidestined have survived odds like this before"

"Good choice boy" the waiter praised "I'll let the old man go once we've gotten away"

"How do I know you won't kill him anyway?" Riku asked

"Our quarrel is with you're kind" the waiter responded with a smirk "not defenseless old men" It took Kai everything he had not to burst out laughing in both shock and mirth at this predicament, one of the people who dubbed him a disgrace and a liability was trying to save his life and Riku had no clue. Glancing over to Renamon and Gatomon and looking in their eyes however, Kai knew that they weren't fooled by his disguise and were genuinely worried about him. The waiter pulled Kai backward and motioned for Riku to follow them and they slowly left the dining room. Riku looked angry at what was happening while Kai kept calm knowing that a certain ninja wasn't too far away.

The group made it to the lobby of the hotel where three additional cultists had the people inside of it at gunpoint. As they were about to exit the hotel smoke suddenly filled the room and Kai knew that it was time for the fun to begin. He stomped on the waiter's foot and twirled around smashing his fist into the waiter's jaw while he heard Shun begin attacking and taking down two of the other cultists. The waiter began swinging back as the gun fell out of his hands after being punched in the jaw. Before Kai was disowned, he and Shun had martial arts lessons together so while he wasn't as experienced as Shun, he knew how to fight at least. The waiter was able to get a good punch in and ended up breaking Kai's nose while Kai kicked his crotch and spun around kicking the waiter in the back of his head to knock him out cold. Kai was charged down by the final cultist and he began a fist fight with him too. The cultist was stronger than the waiter though and sent Kai on a dizzying spin after hitting him so hard that some teeth flew out. Luckily Shun was able to put Kai's assailant in a chokehold and was able to knock him out using that as the fight ended.

Kai's disguise was for all intents and purposes ruined at this point, as Shun helped stabilize his friend the front desk worker wasted no time in contacting the police about the attack. As Kai slowly snapped out of his dizzy fit, he heard a voice calling for him. He looked up to see Leonidas floating over him in concern.

"Hey Leo" Kai winced as he spoke, Riku was speechless

"Kai" Riku said in shock

"Riku" Kai began "I know that you hate me, but please just give Shun his Bakugan back, it's the last thing he received from his mother before she died, it's really important to him."

"Oh" Riku gasped pulling out Skyress and handing her over to Shun "Sorry, I had no idea this was that important"

"No problem" Shun replied as he accepted Skyress who popped open

"It's good to see you again partner" Skyress spoke causing Riku's eyes to widen

"Oh yeah" Kai chuckled as he struggled to stay standing "that's not an it, that's a she. Her name is Skyress and she's Shun's partner"

"I've never seen a Digimon like this one" Riku was amazed

"We're not Digimon" Leonidas spoke up, Riku was about to ask more questions as the Digidestined came sprinting into the lobby.

"Kai?!" each of them exclaimed in shock

"This was you wasn't it?!" TK sharply accused

"No!" Riku yelled back "He wasn't at fault, in fact if he and his friend hadn't acted as they did, these people would've been hurt" all of them were surprised to see Riku defending Kai "He's a hero, and I for one am willing to give him a chance!" he finished before turning to Kai "I'm sorry for everything I've said Kai, you probably saved a lot of lives tonight including mine."

"I appreciate that" Kai chuckled as his knees began to buckle

"Kai" Shun spoke up in concern as Kai almost fell "I think you might be concussed"

"We need to get him back home" Leonidas said as a breaking news announcement sprang up about the Cult attack on the hotel, a few moments into it however the broadcast was hacked and a teenage boy appeared in front of Myotismon's symbol and began to speak.

"Hello people of the world, my name is Marduk" the cultist began "I am a lieutenant in the Cult of Crimson Lightning and we are here to announce the beginning of the end. There is a war being waged in secret that not even most Digidestined know about, a war that has nothing to do with Digimon at all." Marduk continued ad he brought a Bakugan up to the screen "This is one of the Cult's secret weapons" he announced as the Bakugan popped open and introduced itself

"I am Darkus Vladitor" the Bakugan began "I may not seem like much now, but looks can be deceiving"

"Some of the people watching may have heard of the Bakugan game from some kids around, well I can assure you that it is more than just a game. You see we will bring Myotismon back using the Infinity Core which fell from Vestroia as the rogue Bakugan known as Naga destabilized the balance of their dimension. But we aren't the only ones searching for the core, Naga and his errand boy Masquerade are as well."

"So Masquerade and Naga are in this together" Leonidas mused

"So is a group led by a former Digidestined, he is known as Kai Eclipse and the goal of him and his brawlers think they can save Vestroia by finding the core. But we will beat you to it, and when we do Myotismon will be unstoppable!" Marduk cackled as the connection was terminated leaving the world in various stages of shock, disbelief, and confusion.

"Well" Kai said "I think we can agree that Masquerade and Naga can wait"

"Agreed" Shun nodded "We need to assemble the team and take down the Cult before they can find the Infinity Core."

"Would someone please explain what the hell is going on?!" Matt exclaimed


	11. Announcement

**As of today, the first Darkus Eclipse side story has begun. It is called The Fiend War and here is the summary:**

**Tensions rise between the Original Digidestined and the Bakugan Battle Brawlers in the wake of the hotel attack. Meanwhile, the Cult's elite Fiend Guard make their move against their enemies so they can secure the Infinity Core. Against an enemy that neither group can prevail over alone, will the heroic factions be able to set aside their differences against a common enemy or is the world doomed? **

**There it is, the Prologue is a bit short but I look forward to pushing through the story.**

**Before I go, I have answers to some questions:**

**Warrior Werewolf: To answer your question, Impmon is coming back sooner or later, I just haven't figured out when and how.**

**Queue44: While I agree that your thought would be amazing to get back at the Digidestined, i have an even bigger slap in the face planned for them. I won't spoil anything but, it will happen around the time of the second side story I have planned for Darkus Eclipse.**

**Tank you all for your support of the story, enjoy The Fiend War! **


End file.
